It was recruitment day on the programme and we were making our final decisions about who would become a participant. We’d met 40 amazing people from across North Essex. And what struck us in that moment was how different this felt to our previous experiences of social change. I remember seeing one of our selection panel almost moved to tears. I’ll be honest, I was too.
I’ve worked in and around public life for over 20 years and my biggest frustration is how those facing social issues are so often seen as a problem to be solved. That day felt very different, with the challenges people were experiencing – from the cost of living to mental health – seen not as weaknesses but as superpowers. After all nothing brings deeper insight or a greater desire to drive change than facing an issue day in and day out.
All In, the programme I had designed for Eastlight Community Homes – the country’s biggest community-led housing organisation - would be radical. 20 Essex residents would be paid a full-time salary to dedicate a year to going from a blank sheet of paper to inventing new solutions to the issues affecting their lives.
This would be public life boldly led by the public, and what inspired me about Eastlight was the organisation’s commitment to giving it the investment that it needed. The participants would be paid a good living wage, they would get intensive support, and funding would be provided for credible ideas.
So what did we learn? We found that the greater the trust and commitment from the organisation, the bigger the impact. An independent university evaluation of the programme found it delivered:
- Lifechanging experiences for participants with a 60% average growth in networks and 67% going onto better jobs
- Stronger communities with over 5,000 local people engaging
- Impactful ideas with every one securing funding and spinning out as its own public-led organisation
The university found that in its first year alone it generated a social return of £6.26 for every £1 invested. And that doesn’t include the longer‑term impact on the participants, communities or of the solutions they created. “This means”, the University concluded, “that for every future year the social impact of the programme is likely to increase considerably.”
Eastlight was willing to be bold and invest in a different way in its communities. And the organisation found just how impactful turning lived experience from a problem into an asset could be.
All In proved something we all know – that with the right support ordinary people can achieve the most extraordinary things.
Want to empower those facing social issues to invent the solutions they need? Get in touch to work with us!
