I’ve been wondering, in Covid 19 lockdown, “where the hell do I go from here?” And “whence the local economy?” But I face these questions with a degree of calm because I’ve recently been in this same situation, asking the same questions. Enforced pauses for reflection can be creative, although they’re no less daunting for that.
Redundancy
After 30 years as a Community Development Worker, in 2011 I found myself redundant. I had no idea what I was going to do next. In my late 50s, I found most employers wanted younger people. Experience didn’t seem to count for much. Furthermore, I’d worked nationally for the last 8 years and at one interview I was told I’d lost touch with the local. As if I would forget! I have the scars! I know only too well!
As I reflected on my life’s work, I remembered several successful local economic regeneration projects, community plans and the like; mine and other development workers’. Most of these no longer existed. Their neighbourhoods were at best no worse off but some suffered decline. The problem was nothing to do with quality of work and everything to do with sources of funding. They were not sustainable.
The Local Economy
I live in Pitsmoor, Sheffield. At the start of this century, it received £50 million New Deal funding for the 10 years to 2012. We never asked for the money, the decision was made by a local consortium. I was a local activist. None of us were asked. Now, several years later, in almost all respects Pitsmoor is worse off than other comparable parts of the city.
Yet Ellesmere Green, a local shopping area, shows remarkable growth of local retailers (at least until the lockdown), some of it based on Islamic methods of pooling funds and investing together.
Contrast this with Hunters Bar, the part of the city where I grew up. This is the place you visit if you have half a day off work. There are parks and speciality shops with very few chains. How does that area work?
I grew up in post-war Sheffield and remember regeneration in the 50s and 60s. I remember shopping before supermarkets. Also throughout my childhood my father was a self-employed sheet metal worker. Are there stories I can tell that will help me and others understand the local economy?
My Conclusions from 10 Years Ago
As a result of these reflections, I’m self-employed as a local marketing coach. How did I make this transition?
Marketing changes things for the better and so every business must take it seriously. I live in a city with a long history of philanthropic entrepreneurialism. Small businesses respond warmly to the idea they effect change local and national government cannot make.
Neighbourhoods thrive with a growing business community, supported by public and community organisations. Together they generate the spaces where the local economy flourishes.
I set out in 2013 to help businesses understand the contributions they already make to the local economy and how they can grow and so bring more benefit to their locality.
My Conclusions from Today
I’m sure that’s true but now in lockdown it’s hard to imagine the damage done to neighbourhoods or indeed the benefits they may experience, if we get the recovery right. It’s early days and we cannot possibly see clearly what lies ahead. But as lockdown progresses we’ll see ahead more clearly.
I’m revising this sequence of stories, I first wrote in early 2019. I shall move them into the context of the lockdown and ask what they tell us about change for our businesses and neighbourhoods.
There are 21 stories about Local Economy to come. I experimented with different styles and story-types at the time. They were written over 4 weeks, one story every weekday in response to prompts from Megan Macedo. Follow the link if you would like to know more about her work.
You can take part too. Follow these stories, as they appear each week. You’re welcome to comment on the stories and the issues they raise. No story is ever complete and likewise no business plan is ever final. We build on shifting sand and never more so than today.
This is story 0/21. Next Story: Memories: Potted Meat (and Naan Bread)
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