Last week, Bromford Lab Twitter chat returned to a Thursday evening slot in order to discuss the question: What can we learn from the way communities respond to a crisis like COVID?
It is hard to believe that only 237 days ago, most of the world had never heard of COVID-19. On 31 December 2019, a Chinese government website announced the detection of a “pneumonia of unknown cause” in the area surrounding the South China seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, an industrial city of 11 million people. Whilst outside of China, this discovery was barely noticed, it would take fewer than 100 days for the novel virus to shut the world down; halt international travel, extinguish economic activity and confine half of humanity to their homes. Schools, shops, pubs, restaurants, gyms, playgrounds and other social hubs were closed indefinitely. But as our freedom of movement disappeared and the streets became eerily quiescent, our communities came alive.
Since the early days of lockdown, communities have led a charge with informal grassroots support groups springing up to help locals in need. These individual groups grew to make up a patchwork of support that covered the whole of the UK. The Mutual Aid website hosts a list of local support groups established during the pandemic in order to support those who are self-isolating and are in need of help, or are keen to volunteer and need to find a local group. At the time of publication, there are currently 2054 groups listed on the Mutual Aid website - but those are potentially just the tip of the iceberg. With much of the work having been driven by communities themselves, without the intervention of the public or social sectors, it is difficult to quantify the true amount of activity which has already taken place and continues to take place.
We wanted to see if we could learn more about the magic sauce which made it all possible. What can we learn from the past 237 days and how can we ensure that in spite of the devastation, COVID also leaves some form of positive legacy?
We asked #blabchat participants 4 questions over the course of an hour. Here is a summary of the conversation that followed.
During the past six months or so there have been many reports of communities at their best; coming together to help each other in a time of crisis. There have been many small acts of kindness from neighbours helping with errands to organised Facebook groups to help put those people in need in touch with those willing to help. In my own community, a small group of residents set up a home delivery service for all of our local shops including the newsagents, bakery and local SPAR mini-mart. People who needed delivery could phone their order straight through to each store. We also saw local musicians streaming gigs via Facebook to entertain people who were stuck at home during lockdown.
This type of activity seems typical of the grassroots community response across the UK which was also experienced by other #blabchat participants. No one mandated it, few people even asked for it, but within the context of a catastrophic crisis, people stepped up and did things overnight that in many cases would have taken weeks, months and perhaps years to achieve just a short while before.
Many local authorities and other public, social and VCS organisations have been curating localised directories of activity, but the stories which sit behind those activities are much harder to find. That is perhaps due in large part to timing and it is perhaps in the months that follow the relaxing of lockdown restrictions, as the number of people affected by the virus starts to drop, that the stories will be gathered and translated into meaningful insights.
However, if you dig deep enough, there are case studies out there. Daffyd, shared a link to a short video interview produced by Pobl Group to tell the story of local people and organisations they have worked with in recent months in order to make a difference in the communities they operate in. A little further afield, Zayna Khayat also highlighted a local Toronto magazine which featured 50 pandemic heroes, which in her own words she felt was “a great way to profile grassroots community initiatives, unshackled by committees and bureaucracy”. The specific example Zayna gave is of Tai Huynh and the team at Open Lab standing up a ‘Friendly Neighbour Hotline’ in just a matter of days.
But perhaps the best-curated resource for stories relating to life during the pandemic is held by the BBC. Since the start of the pandemic, local BBC radio stations have been highlighting stories of people making a difference in special ‘Make a Difference’ broadcasts; getting out and about into the heart of communities, interviewing people who they find without bias or agenda. Richard Holmes, shared an example of good news stories being shared by the BBC in the South and South West of England as part of a mini-series of broadcasts.
The term ‘social capital’ is often used to describe the building blocks which make up community spirit; shorthand for the personal relationships, values and traditions which give communities their identity. It feels, therefore, that community spirit is heavily reliant on the presence of social capital. Whichever way you phrase it though, there still remains a question - what makes a community thrive and can it be nurtured?
The paradox appears to be that if you prescribe activity, it doesn’t have the same impact; it can’t be grassroots and it risks being shackled in bureaucracy. Ultimately, it feels like the community activity we have all witnessed over recent months is a latent power hidden within the wider fabric of society - organic, contextual and dynamic. Keeping such activity free from the burden of unnecessary bureaucracy might be all that is required to enable it to thrive when it is needed.
Arguably, two factors which can best help communities to adapt to withstand crisis are strong community infrastructure and supportive social networks. Perhaps the real question we should be asking, therefore, is - what role can agencies play in supporting the development of community infrastructure and networks to provide a launchpad for grassroots community activity? In fact, it feels like this would be a much better way for the public, social and private sectors to play a supporting role; providing open access to data sets and infrastructure, giving people the building blocks, stepping aside and letting the community decide how to respond rather than seeking to control and oversee the administration and delivery as a corporate power. Paul shared a graphic from Cormac Russell which supports this approach by illustrating the mindset shift required to move from a deficit-based model to an asset-based model.
One of the things participants felt must be avoided in the months that follow is the highjacking of community activity by agencies trying to oversee, standardise and normalise it. Whilst grassroots community groups may require funding, the bureaucracy that often comes with it and the ever-present need to justify activity by measuring impact is potentially what could kill it. Kelly Joynes, made an excellent point to support this thinking by asking, “who 'needs' to measure it? It's the way people feel that matters”.
One way we may be able to help is to dig beneath the stories, stripping away the corporate ‘good news’ veneer to really understand the driving forces that moved some people to act. Through qualitative insight, we might learn more about the recipe which makes up the ‘secret sauce’. Agencies such as the Design Council will undoubtedly have a large part to play in this at a national level, but we also have a role to play in our own organisations. The important thing to remember, however, is that the credit should lie with those who deserve it - the communities who stepped up; ultimately the insights should be there’s to own.
It feels as if the COVID-19 pandemic has not only highlighted the importance of communities but also the importance of investing in them; perhaps it could even be time to move to funding models without strings? As Paul Taylor, commented, “Overall, COVID has shown the contribution that communities make to public health and wellbeing. It's reminded us of the power of social connection. People have begun supporting and caring for one another, with groups popping up to address needs in ways many organisations can't.”
Perhaps, therefore, maximising the long-term legacy for our communities might be as simple as just stepping back.
As always, thank you to everyone who joined the conversations on Thursday evening - we might provide the hashtag but you provide the conversation.
If you enjoyed reading this, please feel free to subscribe to our regular newsletter where we share all the latest Bromford Lab blogs, podcasts and other interesting articles we think you might be interested in!
- - -