Jugaad

We can learn from the past Mary you are right, but it must be on our own 21st century terms.
 
What I keep pushing for in my local authority, and which is the basis of my open, non-landlord hating approach is the very idea of the PRS as a community that is interdependent on each other. That’s were the internet is such a wonderful tool.
 
Town Halls cannot hide behind the old bureaucratic walls any more, it doesn’t work.
 
In Lewisham where I work, we were the first to create a borough-wide strategy for connected ‘Time Banks’ where people swap time and services, rather than simply volunteer, much like your baby care tokens some years ago. Our health-care time bank has been particularly effective.  Doctors noticed that they were swamped with patients whose only really affliction was loneliness, so Lewisham GPs started a time bank where people give their time to talk to people and connect up. GP appointments dropped by about 80% within 6 months.
 
I know in a way it is simply replicating a connected community, the difference is, events and politics of the past 30 years have broken society up into separate consumers, so we need to consciously create that same situation that once existed naturally.
 
A historian whose name escapes me wrote a really interesting paper on why the renaissance grew out of Florence while southern Italy was destitute and put it down to choirs, which abounded in the city. Every choir had a carpenter or pot maker who swapped products and services, whereas southern Italy, which was ruled by a top-down system of governance, simply stagnated.

Didn't Thatcher just say once that 'there is no such thing as society just the individual'
I think such a mantra has caused the me, me, me society.
This has caused possibly a breakdown in consideration and common courtesy which used to exist before this consumerist society.
Of course it is in the interests of business to divide and rule.
They do not wish to have people band together to obtain better prices.
Localism should hopefully provide access to funding for local solutions, a bit like your Florence analogy.
Personally though I just think it is a Tory agenda to get local communties to do things without any funding from the state.
Just another way to reduce the deficit and reduce expenditure on local councils.
Essentially getting people to do things for nothing that the state has provided via paid employees.
However given that there is no more money, we cannot alow the govt to drive people further into the ground.
So there is little choice than to rengage in some sort of community effort or there will be degradation of services and facilities which are expected to be around for the good of all; like libraries.
Withe literacy levels at their lowest for decades is it really a clever idea to close libraries!!?

“Personally though I just think it is a Tory agenda to get local communties to do things without any funding from the state”.
 
Absolutely spot on Paul. Localism has nothing to do with a belief in people power, just an advancement of traditional Tory ideas of hands-off governance but who cares what their reasons are? The results are what are important here.
 
I find it continually hilarious that what the conservatives are promoting with Localism is in essence an old anarchist model called “Anarcho-Syndicalism”, communities forming connections to run their own affairs without government interference.
 
But I doubt we will see David Cameron standing up in an open topped car, wearing a beret and shouting “FREEDOM FOR TOOOOOOTING!!!!!” haha

Ben that health care bank is brilliant. One of the biggest illnesses today is loneliness. I would love to see elderly people being taught to use internet - just the basics so that they can communicate with other like minded people.  So many of us have an old lap top in a cupboard we could donate them to the elderly and I am sure that the internet providers could be encouraged to offer a free service to elderly people as part of their contribution to health care.  Of course there are others who are house bound who would also benefit from a system like this too.

My sister lives in Italy and there are still communities in the north where they share produce.  In the villiage where my brother in laws family grew up they have festivals where the whole villiage brings something to celebrate the harvest. When someone dies, even when they have long since left the villiage, they all turn out to celebrate their lives.

Choirs are an excellent example of people finding a creative way to forget their woes - look at miners chiors - and to come together to create an experience that they can share with the whole community.

My dad used to say "there is nothing new under the sun" Ben and I don't think that we need 21st century ideas better to use those that are proven to work and just tweek them.

I really respect the fact that you are getting things going in your area but it would be far better if people who live in those areas began their own schemes - they would feel owership and pride rather than "the council" coming up with a scheme.  I too like localism and if it works as it could we may see local people finding local solutions to local problems - that would be great.  People like you could facilitate the coming together of these people so that problems could be identified and solutions found.

Paul I am totally none political and I don't really care why we need to change society just that we do.
When Mrs Thatcher said "'there is no such thing as society just the individuals" she meant that we cannot wait for "society" to make changes society is made up of individuals and we ALL need to play our part. To many people "leave it to someone else" constantly moaning and doing nothing.  We need to "be the change we want to see" roll up our sleeves and make change happen. I have been doing this in the PRS for 25 years and I will continue until the PRS is a place where good tenants want to live and good landlords thrive.

Yes I agree Mary it should come from the community up but we have to start somewhere and the ultimate aim is to teach them to fish, not give them fish, if you get me. Thats what the training programme is all about that I am currently putting together. My aim is to have an educated PRS with knoweledgable tenants into the bargain.

What galls me is that although I have senior management approval and a budget I have to do it on top of chasing criminal landlords and defending mortgage repossessions and largely have to do it without many managers knowing what I am doing, otherwise they would get nervous and want a meeting haha

Many councils have great initiatives. I was just sent this link to the Audit Commission on council schemes across the UK http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Downloads/20110909_housinggoodpractice.xls

I would like to thank all those who have contributed to the debate on Juggard and I say this as a new member of the 118 community. I have learnt so much from the information freely imparted. I have taken very much to heart the value of Credit Unions, something about which I was largely unaware. I have made contact with our Local Authority, the Devon wide Plough and Share CU as well as Tasker Payment Services. I see the value of the CU philosophy becoming a cornerstone in dealing with many of the problems that the Universal Credit system will throw at landlords and I hope to be able to work constructively with these organisations in the future.

My hope is that Landlords can promote the value of becoming a saver with a CU by insisting that any new LHA tenant join one before agreeing to an AST. This will help protect the landlord's self interest and also help the tenant too, especially if they have money management problems. Well done Juggar it helps us think and get solutions outside the box and at minimal cost to all concerned.

Interesting Ben thanks for the link