Over time, economic dogma and a rational approach to strategy and operations has all but erased “places” from the agenda. National programmes and services are designed for efficiency but experience tissue rejection on implementation. They don’t “fit” with the landscape of where we live, who we know and the pattern of our lives. They prioritise efficiency over humanity, and result in neither.
For a long time, conversations about places and home were viewed as parochial. However, economists Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee have shown the ‘stickiness’ of place. Even with rational economic reasons to leave, people have a commitment to their home and stay. This stickiness is demonstrated every day in our work – people are bound by a shared history and a pride in being from Grimsby. When people do leave, many want to find ways to connect to their hometown. In our work this has resulted in a “Home Wins” network of Grimsby diaspora, developed out of the football club, that enables people who have moved away from their hometown to engage in the positive project of creating a thriving future.
Transformative social change needs to start in an area and ensure that the arc towards the future is rooted in the history and identity of the place. We have seen how anchoring this change in existing civic infrastructure, the places people love and belong to, can significantly accelerate the work. Our Future in Grimsby is grounded by our partnership with Grimsby Town Football Club. This 145 year old institution brings together over 5,000 people at each game and is at the heart of the identity of the town. This partnership enables the love and belonging people feel for the club to be used to serve a wider social programme. EFL clubs provide a national infrastructure across this country to root the work of social transformation in a place that is central to people’s identity and has the power to galvanise action.
Beyond the football club, a successful approach needs to celebrate the place, its history and the promise of its future. This work is about belonging to our homes or hiraeth in Welsh. This is the fuel that powers the change and it should be both respected and harnessed. In Grimsby we partner with story tellers, artists and photographers to capture the change underway and work with local musicians and comedians to celebrate the town people love.
You can read about all of the principles and the approach in this essay