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What is civic pride and how do you promote it within your area? At Chorley we grappled with this a couple of years ago when our levels of overall satisfaction with the way the council does things needed addressing. We tried something a bit different in partnership with our local newspaper, the Chorley Guardian, which we called the Chorley Smile Campaign. "Sometimes I think local government has a tendency to over complicate very basic human instincts..." When we first invented the term ‘Making Chorley Smile' there was some cynicism on the management team. ‘How can you make a place smile? It's physically impossible', said one member of the team. Branding has definitely played a major part in the success of the smile campaign. We built on the recognised council brand and incorporated a big cheesy grin. Holding Chorley smile awards has helped to recognise the good work undertaken in our communities by volunteers and local heroes. I went into a local primary school recently to talk to children from the reception class right up to year six about what made them smile about living in Chorley. It's always interesting to get views of children and young people on the issue of civic pride. Sometimes its just the simple things like open space in their local area. A cinema, bowling alley – a Primark even! The pledges that the council commit to as part of the campaign include keeping the streets clean and tidy and the borough safe. I asked the children of St Georges Primary School to sign up to a series of pledges themselves encouraging good behaviour and responsible citizenship. The bit that always seems to resonate is making sure they clean up after their dog. There has been a lot of interest from other councils in the smile campaign. I struggle to understand at times why. It's not rocket science, just common sense and simplicity. Sometimes I think local government has a tendency to over complicate very basic human instincts. One of the pledges is to shout about what makes you proud of living in Chorley, and I set 300 school children the task of drawing the best picture (always a winner) of themselves smiling in Chorley and having fun. At our recent local democracy event we asked young people from a secondary school the same question (without the colouring competition this time) and surprisingly similar answers emerged. We have now got our LSP fully on board with the smile campaign so that it has become a brand for the borough, including all partners – not just the council. I would really encourage this type of approach in other councils. Simple, clear and targeted. Donna Hall is chief executive of Chorley BC

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WHITEHALL

District View

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