Stronger Things has always had a special place in my heart. I first attended as a keynote speaker in 2020 to share our vibrant journey to community powered transformation in East Ayrshire and how our communities had led the response to the pandemic. Last year, wearing my East Ayrshire Council depute chief executive’s hat for the last time, I was part of the most incredible panel. This time, I’ll be attending as the chair of New Local, welcoming 800 changemakers into London’s stunning Guildhall building, and engaging with hundreds of online delegates.
I’m not alone in believing this is a unique and inspirational event. Now in its fifth year, in-person tickets to Stronger Things sold out before the agenda was even released (but don’t worry, there are still some online spaces available). Why? It’s not your conventional conference by any means. The event is filled with hope, it feeds our appetite for desperately needed social change and public service transformation. It celebrates the incredible strengths and stories of our communities and helps us to believe that with courage, kindness and determination we can grow this movement of community power until it becomes unstoppable.
It’s a place to come together, connect, collaborate, make space for creativity, meet old friends and new fellow travellers – and find practical yet transformative ways to serve and work alongside our communities to improve our society, respond to challenges and hardwire community power into our work.
Since its inception, community power has grown in importance and credibility as a central driver and compelling approach to transform public services, improve wellbeing and put people at the heart of everything we do. More and more councils are centring their work around how to build upon strengths of local people, engage with, listen deeply and learn from their communities to make the best possible use of resources – especially when there is no financial cavalry on the horizon.
This year, we’ve centred the programme around the big questions and challenges that people have when they’re trying to work in this way. We have some fantastic speakers, roundtables and interactive workshops to explore, understand and share our solutions and strengths.
I am delighted to be hosting a panel called ‘Community Power – The Art of the Possible’ featuring three inspirational people who can share their considerable experience of making community power a reality in the UK and across the world.
There’s Mick Ward, who spent a 42-year career in Leeds City Council embedding an asset-based community development approach to the council’s social care – and is now helping other organisations do the same.
There’s my fellow New Local board member Samira Ben Omar, who brings more than 25 years of experience of working in the NHS and with grassroots community groups, pioneering a ‘community champions’ approach to healthcare in West London, and was a cornerstone of the community’s incredible response to the Grenfell disaster.
And Brendan Martin, who leads an international social enterprise dedicated to improving public services by supporting staff to work with greater freedom and responsibility, working with more than 40 NHS institutions and councils.
These are community power pioneers, doers, as well as thinkers. The session will explore the benefits and impacts of working in this way, how to overcome the challenges and risks and how to embed community power in our places and in our organisations.
We hope everyone leaving Guildhall, or switching off their laptop, will have plenty of seeds of inspiration and tangible knowhow to take another step forward.
Stronger Things 2024 comes at a crucial point. We are helping to set the agenda for a new government and putting communities at the heart of that. To put it simply, we are at a crossroads and need a drastic change. Public Services and systems are no longer financially viable and often cannot meet the changing needs and aspirations of our communities. At this point in our history we have an incredible opportunity to reimagine our public services, to equalise power, to build on our collective strengths and codesign a new blueprint for this 21st century.
As chair of New Local, it will be a chance to meet all of you, to invite collaboration across all sectors and to share our and amplify our work. Community power is a worldwide movement for good that includes all of us. I can’t wait to explore the art of the possible and help turn it into a reality together.
Katie Kelly is chair of New Local
X- @wearenewlocal
Stronger Things takes place on 4 June 2024 in London’s Guildhall and online. In-person tickets are sold out but online tickets are available at www.newlocal.org.uk/strongerthings24/