(image credit: Jam&Justice project)
The Jam and Justice co-production “treasure hunt” is a day when we will go out and about in Greater Manchester meeting with community actors in their own spaces and localities, rather than having presenters come to us. Our hope is that – just like a treasure hunt – we will actively go looking for ideas and learning, piecing together clues, and getting to know our fellow treasure-hunters along the way.
In the morning you will choose between visiting:
Inspiring Communities in Salford are the legacy organisation of Salford’s New Deal for Communities. A decade on from the end of that multi-million pound programme, Inspiring Communities operates as a community anchor and charity on a fraction of the turnover of the NDC. In many ways the activities they run have more impact on the everyday lives of local people. At the same time, while they deliver services to the local community, their independent governance means their relationship with public sector agencies is based on negotiation rather than delegation.
Leigh Neighbours in Wigan is the resident-led partnership responsible for Big Local in Leigh West, Wigan. The lottery-funded Big Local programme has provided £1m for Leigh Neighbours to spend or invest over ten years and Leigh Neighbours are using the money to take action on wide-ranging priorities set by the local community from improving the environment, to tackling poor quality private-rented housing. As a resident-led group, with only featherlight support from paid staff, Leigh Neighbours have set similar objectives to those of public agencies but they way the operate is very different.
Bluesci in Trafford are a mental health and wellbeing service based in Trafford. The services they run are funded by small grants and larger-scale commissions from the local NHS. Although the services they deliver vary greatly, the common principle is that they are all collaborations between professionals, volunteers, and services users, and staff are seen as “companions or fellow travellers rather than experts”.
Jam and Justice is a social innovation and research programme in Greater Manchester which aims to co-produce, test, and learn from new ways of governing cities. You can read more about the research here https://jamandjustice-rjc.org/about-jam-and-justice
