120 people came together on November 14th and 15th to celebrate the work happening across Grimsby and North East Lincolnshire and support each other in collectively building the future of the area. The event united people working across business, government, charity, philanthropy, and academia from Grimsby, the wider region, and across the country.
We held the open house to bring people together as citizens who care about the area they live or work in, or people who want to support the work underway. The group reflected the fact that everyone no matter what sector they work in can be part of a collective working for their friends, neighbours, and their area. Relationships are the foundation of the work we are doing so the event was designed to enable new connections, build friendships and allyship, and for people to enjoy time together.
Pictures from the Open House event, which featured a party on Monday night with music and food and a day of discussion and connecting throughout Tuesday.
Through the event people discussed housing, the green economy, growing businesses that benefit the area, citizen-led action and community organising, football, theatre, visual arts and many other things that combine to make Grimsby home.
Afterwards we asked people to tell us what they learned and what the movement growing across the town means to them. Five themes emerged.
‘Affection’ underpins the collective spirit of the moment
“There was a lot of energy and love in the room! Don’t underestimate how special this is.”
People told us about feeling and seeing lots of communal care throughout the event. A few people were struck by the unusual sense of togetherness in the room — for example in the first panel conversation the comment that ‘you need more than love, but it’s a start’.
Love of home is a powerful force
“There are so many people passionate about the future of Grimsby”
Many people were struck by the collective love for the area from Grimsby’s citizens who live, work, or grew up in the town. One person told us how “this positivity for the place is an extraordinary asset,” and rare to find, particularly in an area that has had more than its share of difficult times. Another person mentioned that “the power and potential of place is its people”, and that we can build on all the great initiatives being led and developed by people across the area, coming together as peers whether their role is in government, part of a voluntary initiative, or through local businesses.
The whole is greater than the sum of the parts
“You won’t succeed on any one of [the aims of the work] if you don’t succeed on them all.”
People commented on how the power of the initiative is in seeing the whole beyond the parts. “We have to find a structure that remains open and accessible,” said one person who attended, and “avoid the tendency to move into bureaucratic committees” overseeing different workstreams. People felt that the initiative was exciting because it is bringing people together to actively work on the challenges that are “never part of my job” but really matter for whether the work sustainably meets its aims.
We need to start telling a new story
One person observed how damaging some narratives about Grimsby can be, but that it was clear that people are challenging these stories throughout the event and through their work. Another commented that people want a positive change in Grimsby and are fed up with the ‘stigma’ attached to being from Grimsby. We heard that people want to share the successes and be proud of them.
Docks Beers is a brewery and events venue based beside Grimsby’s historic docks. The pre-event party was hosted at Docks which is has been a great success story since it launched in 2018
Getting on with it
“We must catch the wave now and ride it”.
There was a restlessness to get on with the work. Many people were keen to be part of the action of pushing the collective work forward — as one person put it “we need to get it done rather than waiting for someone else”. This focus on action ran through the event with the sense that we have a collective ready to work together and lead the way in taking action for the area.
Upcoming events to build on the momentum developing are shared on our website: https://www.our-future.io
You can also reach out to Killian (killian@our-future.io) if you’d like to discuss Our Future and the work in Grimsby. We’d love to hear from you.