Posted by: rickwilsontg | July 16, 2009

State of loneliness

Thanks to Adrian Roper and Chris Geake of Cartrefi Cymru for suggesting this great article written by Charles Leadbeater and published in the Guardian on the 1st July.

State of Loneliness

State of Loneliness

In the State of Loneliness Charles Leadbeater argues that supportive relationships are key to tackling social ills. He says:

  • ‘The fiscal crisis has fully exposed the current model of public service reform – invest, modernise, set targets, review performance, eliminate failure – as having run out of steam. Public services may be more efficient, but all too often they are not joined up, leaving the people on the receiving end bewildered by what one elderly woman, who was being visited by four occupational therapists, described to me as a blizzard of services’.

He sees the personalisation agenda as a step forward but not sufficient to address the growing deficits of ownership and control faced by many vulnerable people living in the community. The necessary public service reform must come from a very different starting point:

  • ‘The key will be to redesign services to enable more mutual self-help, so that people can create and sustain their own solutions. The best way to do more with less is to enable people to do more for themselves and not need an expensive, professionalised public service’.

Relationships are at the heart of what makes for a good life, and ‘people grow up and age well if they have supportive relationships’.

He echo’s much of what we have said in the Sustainable Lives dialogue by saying:

  • ‘The challenge of the future is how public services can support relationships, at scale, without being heavy-handed. This is where some of the most exciting radical innovation in public services is emerging’.

You can find the complete article by following this link State of loneliness.

Charles Leadbeater is a founding partner of Participle, which works with communities to devise solutions to intractable social challenges.

As a postscript to this post Charles Leadbeater has written a really useful pamphlet called Personalisation through Participation (2004) you can get hold of this document on Google Reader by following the link.

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Posted in Community Resilience, The recession | Tags:

Posted by: rickwilsontg | July 15, 2009

Life on Mars – Radical social work is back!

BBCs Life on Mars

BBC's Life on Mars

I was reading Nick Andrew’s really interesting paper on the All Together Now project and I was struck by the suggestion from Gannon and Lawson (2008) that although Co-production has become one of the most trendy concepts of the time, it is not new. As a concept it dates from the 70’s

  • ‘…. a time when movements to challenge professional power and increase citizen participation in community affairs coincided with efforts to reduce public spending’.

Well how about that, where are we now, a time marked by a radical mistrust of professional power and a significant imperitive to reduce public spending.

Well what else could we bring back from our practice in the days of the Cortina, flares, growing unemployment and bubbling racism?

  • How about the Seebohm reorganisation – generic and community development focused
    ‘Social Services directed to the well-being of the whole community, and seeing the community it serves as the basis of its authority, resources and effectiveness’ Seebohm P147.
  • Or, Egan’s The Skilled Helper – Relationship orientated and focused on personal empowerment.
  • The ‘effective use of self’ -now somebody is going to tell me this was not from the 70’s but it was drummed into me by my social work tutor, and he was!
  • And of course, Radical Social Work – with it’s emphasis on class and the wider social and political context of our work, (when I first met my partner she was wearing a badge which read ‘Social Work – Soft police’ – I really should have made a run for it then).

So if you have a sense of deja vu at our current practice world,  I don’t think we should be surprised. Just put on a Tom Robinson album and remember it wasn’t all bad.

‘I’m a middle class kiddie but I know where I stand!’

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Posted in Co-production

Posted by: rickwilsontg | July 15, 2009

All Together Now June Newsletter 2009

It is great to see that the City and County of Swansea / SSIA project All Together Now is developing so well.

Here is it’s latest newsletter All Together Now Newsletter June 2009

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Posted in All Together Now, Latest news

Posted by: rickwilsontg | July 6, 2009

Towards a new politics of the common good

This year’s BBC Reith Lectures have been fascinating Professor Michael Sandel the ‘Anne T and Robert M Bass’ Professor of Government at Harvard has delivered a series of 4 lectures on the subject of ‘A New Citizenship’.

Professor Michael Sandel

In the final lecture entitled ‘A new politics of the common good’ he made a case for a moral and civic renewal in democratic politics.

What I felt was particularly relevant to our work was his comments on the problems caused by the increasing inequality of wealth in our society.

This inequality often gets presented as one of a disparity in economic opportunity, however Professor Sandel suggested that the true corrosive nature of this inequality was it’s impact on civil society and the common good.

  • ‘Too great a gap between rich and poor undermines the solidarity that democratic citizenship requires. As inequality deepens, rich and poor live increasingly separate lives.’

His argument was both common sense and accurately reflected the world we increasingly live in. As we use separate social and recreational facilities, housing, and transport, the rich have less investment in the provision that the poor and vulnerable rely on. Alongside this different group of citizens become less and less tolerant of each other due to their declining level of contact with each other.

He argues that national and local government must prioritise working with Citizens to rebuild the architecture of civic life. This work must be cooperative, it must take common effort and exertion, he concluded by saying:

  • ‘I’ve tried to suggest that the virtues of democratic life – community, solidarity, trust, civic friendship – these virtues are not like commodities that are depleted with use. They are rather like muscles that develop and grow stronger with exercise’.

I feel it is this work that we are embarking on through our work on community sustainability.

If you want to listen to the whole lecture, you can listen to it by following the link to the BBC site BBC Reith Lecture 2009.

Or by listening through the player below.

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Posted in Community Resilience, Inequality | Tags: ,

Posted by: rickwilsontg | June 18, 2009

From In Control to Citizen Directed Support

Further to the post about Personalisation and citizen focused services there is interesting news about the development of In Control Cymru.

In Control Cymru has been working with 7 local authorities and 17 provider organisations to explore and develop how people in Wales who require social care support can get control over their lives as active citizens. In Wrexham where there has been the most significant development in this area 65 people are now using individual budgets.

However the steering group of In Control Cymru recognise that it is imperative that this agenda is set within the Welsh context and unique political environment and they have come to recognise that personalisation and In Control have become synonymous with the English agenda change. They have decided to rebrand as, The Welsh Alliance of Citizen Directed Support to place greater emphasis on establishing a Welsh model of social care and to find a new way to express this which is appropriate to the context of Wales.

In light of the rebranding, The Welsh Alliance of Citizen Directed Support is seeking to work with all its stakeholder groups, ADSS Cymru, AWASH, SSIA and WAG to develop a model of social care appropriate for Wales.

The first step in this journey will be to define what Citizen Directed Support means to us in Wales.

Speaking personally, (although I need to acknowledge an interest as of last week I became chair of the Alliance Provider Network and are thus part of the Alliance Steering Group) I think this is a great opportunity and a potential threat. We have the opportunity to influence and shape a national practice agenda focused on Citizen Directed Services, many people wanted to create a genuinely Welsh model and now it is there to be created. However if we sit back, there is now a significant risk that the energy transforming services in person centered ways across the UK will pass us by and the inevitable budget pressures that we are facing will erode the quality of people lives in a slow but sure fashion.

So I think we should all take some time to answer the question
What Citizen Directed Support means to us? – possibly in 100 words or less

Well here goes here is mine (although I am sure it will change)?

  • Citizen Directed Support means that individuals are supported to have control over the services that they use through a range of methods such as individual budgets or user led services. However they are equally supported to become part of mutually supportive communities who they have investment in and influence over. Agencies deliver services to individuals acheiving explicitly agreed individual outcomes; however they also actively support communities to build their capacity for collaboration and mutual assistance. Explicit shared systems for communication exist between individuals, community groups and agencies to support collaborative decision-making and local adaptation. (94 words – I should have said 150 or less)

Somebody else have a go!

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Posted in Citizen Directed Support | Tags: ,

Posted by: rickwilsontg | June 11, 2009

Community development lessons from the Marshall Plan!

I was listening to a lecture by Paul Collier about his book The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It. He was talking about times when he felt that the developed countries were really serious about international development.

He suggested the last time was the US Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe after World War two.

He felt that the US was motivated primarily about fear of something worse happening if they did not engage through re-construction. Paul Collier identified 4 components to the Marshall plan:

  • Aid
  • Trade
  • Security
  • Governance

His argument goes on to suggest that we in the developed world need to engage with the vigor and focus that was required by the Marshall plan and for a similar reason that if we don’t something worse will happen.

I having been thinking about this especially in the context of the results of the European election results, and the growth of the BNP vote in Wales.

I feel that there are close connections between this argument and the work we need to commit to in re-building our communities as vibrant, diverse, safe, mutually supportive and ’self controlled’.

The 4 components offer an interesting perspective on this work.

Aid – We need to build structures that meet people’s needs for care, support and inclusion

Trade – However these approaches must avoid dependency by helping people collaborate together in equal relationships of exchange, thus building a web of relationships, inter-dependence and competence.

Security – These cross cutting structures will help our communities to become safer and more stable in changing and challenging conditions.

Governance – We will only be successful in doing this if the processes of decision making are shared with members of the community that they are embedded within. We need to find ways of amplifying the voice of people who have the greatest social investment rather than the greatest resources.

We need to do this, it will be very hard work but if we don’t, just like the Marshall Plan, something much worse could happen.

Rick

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Posted in Community Resilience | Tags: ,

Posted by: rickwilsontg | June 11, 2009

Our group meeting on the 17th May

Hello all

Here is an update from our May meeting.

At this meeting we continued to map out our inquiry to create more sustainable models of social care services.

Each group member had an opportunity to present their ideas about what components might make up these models.

Heather

Heather's arrangement

Heather's arrangement

  • Coastal Potential
  • Dependency / expectations (early – late adopters)
  • User led/run organisations – SAIL
  • Personal Stories/Narrative
  • Volunteering payback
  • Self help groups
  • Peer Support
  • Carer Support
  • Music
  • Collective use of Direct Payments/IB
  • Trust
  • Wiltshire Service User group – deliver services/consultation etc.
  • Development of organisations – Coastal Housing
  • People need rewards? – (outings, celebrations, events)
  • Communities First
  • Floating wardens – Extra care

Nick

Nick's arrangement

Nick's arrangement

  • S51A “Altogether Now” Pilot
  • “Talking Mats”.
  • Targeted recruitment and training (IDEA)
  • Help the Aged “My Home Life”.

Simon

Simon's arrangement

Simon's arrangement

  • Lessons from Great Books (Film, etc)
  • Thinking different – How to?
  • Design approaches
  • Backwards – Forwards planning
  • Critical moment reflection
  • Mapping Organisational Psyches (Shadows)
  • Turning the curve
  • “Team” based learning

Clive

  • Social Enterprises
  • Sustainable commissioning
Clive's Arrangement

Clive's Arrangement

Lisa

Lisa's arrangment

Lisa's arrangment

  • Risk – Let’s Really Challenge Ourselves
  • Leadership – in the community – connectors
  • Story telling
  • Support groups to develop social capital
  • Systems and bureaucracy accountability

Rick

Rick's arrangement

Rick's arrangement

  • Outcomes Framework
  • Sustainable commissioning
  • Assistive technology
  • Timebanking
  • Night time response service

If you want to see the programme for this meeting you can find it by following this link

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Posted in Meetings | Tags:

Posted by: rickwilsontg | June 5, 2009

Personalisation and citizen focused services

Empowered Citizens, stronger communities and sustainable lives

Empowered Citizens, stronger communities and sustainable lives

My agency Community Lives Consortium is part of of the All Wales Community Living Network.

The All Wales Community Living Network (AWCLN) represents Welsh third sector provider agencies that support adults who have learning disabilities to live in the Community.

We are very concerned with the development of an approach to personalisation of services which has broad support and will work effectively in the Welsh context. As part of this the group has been discussing the possible links between personalisation and the development of mutually supportive communities.

As part of this discussion I was asked to write a thought paper on the subject, this paper has been heavily influenced by the discussions and ideas expressed through the Sustainable Lives process.

This week the paper was shared in draft form with the steering group of In Control Cymru.

You can download a copy of this paper which is draft and the subject of continuing dialogue within the network.

The draft paper argues that we must continue to build a model of self directed services in Wales which represents a step change in the person centeredness of our services, however for this to be successful given the financial, social and environmental pressures that these services will face over the coming decades it must be built on a foundation of empowered sustainable communities.

Models of co-production and community development offer a potential to do this which has a good fit with both In Control and also Welsh traditions of bottom up mutual action, reciprocity and fair exchange. Such a development would empower the people we serve and help them and the systems that support them to become central in the development of their communities and neighbourhoods in the decades to come.

The AWCLN would welcome feedback and our views on this discussion, which can be posted here and I will pass them on.

Rick

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Posted in Co-production, Personalisation | Tags: , ,

Posted by: rickwilsontg | June 2, 2009

The new wealth of time – Timebanking

The New Wealth of Time

The New Wealth of Time

The excellent New Economics Forum together with Time Banking Wales and Time Banking UK have recently produced a very helpful report entitled

This report can either be downloaded from NEF by following this link or from this website by clicking on the report title above.

The NEF says about this document:

  • The New Wealth of Time describes how timebanking, as a tool to stimulate co-production, is already helping to create better services across a range of areas, including mental and physical health, services for young people and older people, regeneration, housing and criminal justice.

Co-production is an idea that has appeared before both in the blog and in the Sustainable Lives group discussion. It is a theory based on the premise that people and societies flourish more readily where relationships are built on reciprocity and equity: enabling people to give freely, yet also facilitating the give-and-take of time, knowledge, skills, compassion and other assets.

Timebanking is a practical tool that enables co-production. Unlike the money economy, timebanking values all hours equally: 1 hour of time = 1 time credit, whether you are a surgeon or an unemployed single mother. Timebanking recognises that everyone, even those defined as disadvantaged or vulnerable, has something worthwhile to contribute. Timebanking values relationships that are forged through giving and receiving.

I think that Time Banking is a very significant idea that due to the current weakness of the market economy is now getting the recognition that it deserves.

As part of the Sustainable Lives process we will be organisation a semina on Timebanking later in the summer.

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Posted in Co-production, Reports, Time Banking | Tags: ,

Posted by: rickwilsontg | May 23, 2009

Radical Change for a sustainable Wales

Rhodri Morgan

First Minister Rhodri Morgan said at the Hay Festival yesterday that all parts of Welsh society will have to play their part to fashion a sustainable future and a Wales fit for generations to come.

He did so announcing the Welsh Assembly Sustainable Development Scheme, a link to the WAG press release can be found here ‘Press Realease’.

It is stirring stuff, and for me is so refreshing given the current debaccle at Westminster to feel that there is some leadership somewhere to get behind.

He said:

  • We must build sustainability into everything we do. There is a clear parallel with the difficult economic circumstances we now face – that of living beyond the country’s economic means to sustain us. Sustainable development provides us with a route to developing a lasting, strong and high skill economy that operates within environmental and financial limits. It needs to meet all the needs of our society now and in the future.

Jane Davidson said:

  • This is a truly wide-reaching vision for Wales. We have committed ourselves to becoming a one planet nation – to use only our fair share of resources to sustain our lifestyles. This will ensure we leave enough resources for future generations.

Jonathan Porritt, Chair of the Sustainable Development Commission said:

  • I am extremely pleased that the Welsh Assembly Government is showing such serious commitment to making Wales a truly sustainable country. I am also glad that the Sustainable Development Commission will have a new role in Wales in measuring the progress made by government in becoming more sustainable. If actions match the ambition shown in this document, Wales will set an example for the rest of the world to follow.

It is really positive that our Sustainable Lives inquiry can sit so squarely within this policy context.

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Posted in Assembly Action, Latest news, Sustainable Commissioning | Tags: ,

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