Big Society in the North

The Big Society is such a good idea that David Cameron has launched it at least three times already. Today he was in Liverpool, describing community action as his 'passion'.

It's easy to be cynical about this at a time when community action is already starting to feel the pinch as a direct result of the coalition's spending cuts (Voluntary Action Wakefield is just one of many organisations that has reason to be sceptical).

And there's ample scope for turning the Big Society into a political football. This is bad news, because there are some timely and helpful ideas in the Big Society narrative: to support local people taking action in their communities for themselves; to encourage new forms of ownership that are responsive to people's needs; and to celebrate the initiative and achievements of ordinary people.

There is a long history of government attempting to identify with and support local people's efforts to achieve change in their communities. More than a decade ago we had the policy action team report on community self-help; that was followed by a string of initiatives on community empowerment, including the establishment (and subsequent destruction) of community empowerment networks across the country; and we hadTogether We Can.

Big Society follows this tradition, but risks exactly the same failings.

To avoid those failings, it needs support. But what it doesn't need is a government figurehead. Big Society won't happen because of David Cameron's popularity; if it succeeds it will be despite his inevitable unpopularity as the spending review takes effect.

So the Big Society can do without politicians, of all flavours. What it needs is partisans.

A partisan is a supporter or an enthusiast. In wartime, it's also a guerrilla fighter. Some of those skills - initiative, autonomy, risk-taking - will need to become the stuff of the Big Society if it is to be a voice of the people rather than of the powerful.

The opportunity to pass real power and resources to local communities is too important to be lost in political skirmishing or the trench warfare of vested interests. The idea of the Big Society in the North is to explore how this can be done in a way that expresses the value of the community action that's already happening in the north of England, and brings in new people who want to add to the mix. That's why it's independent of government, but determined to engage constructively both with the Big Society Network and with existing groupings such as CDX and Urban Forum. And from just floating an idea a couple of weeks ago, we now have 100 people attending an initial event and talk of more to follow.

The message to the sceptics is to take the opportunity while it's on offer, and to make the most of it. History suggests radicalism and passion very quickly get bogged down in the apparatus of government.

No-man's-land is a difficult place to be. When you stand up you risk being shot at from all directions. If you get into the trenches on either side you're expected to take part in the shooting.

Nobody owns no-man's-land. It's a muddy and confusing place, hard to find your way around. There's little sense of direction. You could say it's a bit like the Big Society.

It's hardly surprising that many of those who find themselves there are just looking for someone else to explain the lie of the land or tell them where to go. Others might want to go and hide in the nearest crater until someone comes out to rescue them.

Yesterday evening we opened up a space where people could start to explore these murky areas. We invited anyone who wanted to take part in a free event to discuss what a northern view of the Big Society might look like. There was a common feeling that much that the government terms Big Society has been happening for decades and needs to be protected from unthinking spending cuts; and a concern to build new ways of supporting social action.

We also heard from Steve Moore of the Big Society Network, who gave an overview of the thinking that's developing at a national level and stressed his willingness to back new ideas.

At the Big Society in the North event some brave people started to venture into no-man's-land to try to make something of it. We had Alistair Sinclair, who wants to set up community-led support groups for people recovering from substance misuse. There was Kate Welch, who wanted to explore how to build personal and emotional resilience in order to enable people to bounce back from setbacks such as unemployment or homelessness.

Another group considered Simon Cooke's suggestion of building street networks and a 'supermarket street' of small shops as a way of building mutual support. A fourth considered how to take forward David Wilcox's suggestion of a 'social app store' that could help community groups to thrive.

You can read more about these ideas on the Big Society in the North Forum, or put forward your own.

By far the biggest group yesterday, though, were those who weren't sure about the idea of the Big Society at all and wanted to debate what it should be. Some wanted to create a definition they could work. Some talked about the need to tell the stories of the people who are already building community in the north of England, and I think this needs to be a core element of any northern expression of social action that engages with the Big Society idea.

It's essential that the Big Society has critical friends and friendly critics, and that the forum is a place they can use to take forward their concerns. I'm looking forward to seeing how that thinking develops.

The real test of the value of any event, though, is whether or not it allows people to make links and develop ideas. I was encouraged by a range of conversations I heard, both at the event and afterwards, and I'm happy to be involved in further gatherings to enable such conversations to happen.

For me, if just one tenth of the people who attended yesterday come up with ideas or take actions that wouldn't otherwise have happened, it was worthwhile. If it's helped others to crystallise what they think, that's useful. And for those who decide they don't want to be part of these conversations, that's OK - there's no obligation.

If anyone else wants to help develop the forum or has suggestions for future activities, you're more than welcome - contact me or post a discussion. You might find no-man's-land is a safer place than you fear.

• If you want to know more about yesterday's event, there's archived video coveragehere and David Wilcox has done some short clips on YouTube. John Popham has linked to his Radio Sheffield interview and the live blog of the event here.