Bulletin #3, August 2017
The Grenfell Tower fire continues to dominate our debates, and rightly so. It seems that almost every discussion about community life and public service is now and forever haunted by the image of the blackened tower, this terrible monument to suffering, injustice, and institutional failure.
Yes, we can find solace in the bravery of the emergency services, and in the generosity of strangers, people from all walks of life, who dropped everything and came to help. And yet, we allowed it to happen. As our members have pointed out, the threat to safety in tower blocks has been known about for decades. We shamefully ignored the voices of residents, not just in Grenfell, but across the country, continued to place poor and vulnerable people in everyday danger, and turned our backs. And in the days and weeks following the fire we, in all sectors, were found wanting.
Whether or not this event will lead to change for the better hangs in the balance. We cannot simply rely on the public inquiry. Much will depend on the stories we tell and the actions we take, our collective ability to confront institutional inertia within our own agencies as well as that of others, and the extent to which we can build solidarity with those we have ignored and left behind.
You can read a summary of recent Better Way discussions about this here and here. We would very much welcome further views and insights from colleagues across out network.
Please forward this bulletin to others who may be interested, and if you are not yet part of a Better Way group but would like to be, just let us know.
Steve Wyler and Caroline Slocock
About A Better Way
A Better Way is a network of social activists, from the voluntary sector and beyond, who want to challenge business as usual, improve services, and build strong communities. We have set out some simple propositions, which we believe, if pursued with courage and conviction, would bring about a radical shift in favour of the common good. The initiative is hosted by Civil Exchange, in partnership with Carnegie UK Trust and is also supported by Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. You can find out more here: http://www.betterway.network/.
Our national gathering
In June we held a Better Way national gathering with cell members from Manchester, Hastings, Taunton, Coventry and London, and were joined by Julia Unwin, who chairs the Inquiry into the future of civil society. We heard how cell members are applying the Better Way propositions to local action, explored public narrative techniques to produce a contagious story of change, and concluded that we need to unlearn almost everything we are conventionally taught about leadership! As a result of the gathering we have produced a Call to Action in 2017.
Recent blogs from our members
Lessons from Grenfell Tower, by Sue Tibballs: the terrible event has revealed shortcomings in all sectors – what is the potential for change?
Mainstreaming or specialism? by Andy Gregg: ‘nothing about us without us’ has been the rallying call of specialist self-help groups – what is their future and how could mainstream agencies respond?
And finally…
Here are two contrasting and provocative articles about Grenfell Tower:
Frances Clarke from Community Links argues in the Guardian that history shows that residents must lead the campaign for change.
Better Way member Danny Kruger argues in the Spectator that ‘change happens when a subset of the elite wins an argument with the rest of their class.’