{"id":29248,"date":"2021-12-03T13:02:50","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T13:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.powertochange.org.uk\/?p=29248"},"modified":"2022-02-08T15:21:52","modified_gmt":"2022-02-08T15:21:52","slug":"why-power-to-change-is-supporting-were-right-here-the-campaign-for-community-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.powertochange.org.uk\/news\/why-power-to-change-is-supporting-were-right-here-the-campaign-for-community-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Why we are supporting We\u2019re Right Here, the campaign for community power"},"content":{"rendered":"
[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.0″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
by Vidhya Alakeson, CEO of Power to Change<\/strong><\/p>\n The pandemic has woken us up to the power of community. We saw communities pull together in moments of crisis to get through, stay connected, and begin to bounce back.<\/p>\n We know this proactive response by local people to their communities\u2019 needs isn\u2019t new. People have always been there, working together to support one another, create good local jobs and improve where they live. In doing so they tackle the biggest challenges of the day \u2013 whether that\u2019s loneliness or mistrust, the climate crisis or local decline. What is clear is that when communities step up, they make a difference.<\/p>\n Through the work we do at Power to Change to support community businesses across England, we see the potential of communities every single day. We also know that too often communities face an uphill struggle. Pots of funding are available but accessing them can be complicated and hard to navigate and rights that communities can theoretically exercise to make changes in their local area are, in actual fact, almost impossible to use.<\/p>\n Too often the places impacted by initiatives, investment and programmes are often the last consideration. This is because power is too remote; decisions are made behind closed doors far away from the people affected by them. Research from Power to Change and the Cares Family<\/a>, found that 71% of people in the UK felt they lacked control over the important decisions that affect their neighbourhood and local community. We need a new approach. We need to put power and control in the hands of our communities.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n That is why we are supporting We\u2019re Right Here, the campaign for community power. Led by community leaders and backed by national organisations like Power to Change, we are calling for Parliament to pass a Community Power Act. This legislation would fundamentally change where power lies in our country by:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.powertochange.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Inayat-Omarji-Film-Still-1200×829-1.jpg” title_text=”Inayat-Omarji-Film-Still-1200×829″ _builder_version=”4.14.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.powertochange.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Charlotte-Hollis-Film-Still-1200×829-1.jpg” title_text=”Charlotte-Hollis-Film-Still-1200×829″ _builder_version=”4.14.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n From Inayat Omarji in Bolton<\/a> who is working across the whole community to regenerate a disused a disused church, to Charlotte Hollins in Shropshire<\/a> who manages the country\u2019s first ever community-owned farm – the community leaders driving the campaign forward are shining examples of what communities can do. But they are doing this in spite of the system. Imagine what they could do with the system on their side.<\/p>\n Passing a Community Power Act would put us on a path to a future where projects like these are part and parcel of everyday life, not an exception to the rule. Culture change will take time, but the passage of this Act and the Covenants that come with it will kickstart a shift so \u00a0public sector bodies start to see and treat communities as equal partners.<\/p>\n Having launched the campaign with a brilliant online event on 30th<\/sup> November, we want to keep the momentum going. You can support the campaign by:<\/p>\n While power and opportunity are not spread evenly across the country we live in today, they can be in the future. This is the moment for community power. Join us. We\u2019re Right Here.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/www.right-here.org\/” url_new_window=”on” button_text=”Join the campaign” _builder_version=”4.14.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Vidhya Alakeson lays out the challenges facing communities striving to make their places better and why they need more power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":39212,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" by Vidhya Alakeson, CEO of Power to Change<\/strong><\/p> The pandemic has woken us up to the power of community. We saw communities pull together in moments of crisis to get through, stay connected, and begin to bounce back.<\/p> We know this proactive response by local people to their communities\u2019 needs isn\u2019t new. People have always been there, working together to support one another, create good local jobs and improve where they live. In doing so they tackle the biggest challenges of the day \u2013 whether that\u2019s loneliness or mistrust, the climate crisis or local decline. What is clear is that when communities step up, they make a difference.<\/p> Through the work we do at Power to Change to support community businesses across England, we see the potential of communities every single day. We also know that too often communities face an uphill struggle. Pots of funding are available but accessing them can be complicated and hard to navigate and rights that communities can theoretically exercise to make changes in their local area are, in actual fact, almost impossible to use.<\/p> Too often the places impacted by initiatives, investment and programmes are often the last consideration. This is because power is too remote; decisions are made behind closed doors far away from the people affected by them. Research from Power to Change and the Cares Family<\/a>, found that 71% of people in the UK felt they lacked control over the important decisions that affect their neighbourhood and local community. We need a new approach. We need to put power and control in the hands of our communities.<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[340],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.powertochange.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29248"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.powertochange.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.powertochange.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.powertochange.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.powertochange.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.powertochange.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.powertochange.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.powertochange.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.powertochange.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.powertochange.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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