A co-operative borough

Lambeth First has achieved a lot in recent years and this website is full of examples of our successes. 

We are now starting the next part of our journey.  We need to do this because there is significantly less money for us to work with, because the rules and regulations surrounding partnerships are changing rapidly and because the way that we have operated for the last ten years needs a complete refresh.

To help us start this journey we are going to have a series of Open Space events (for more information about Open Space see www.londoncreativelabs.com/openspace).  These events will help us discuss what is really important in different parts of the borough.  They will connect people in new ways, and provide inspiration for action, for new initiatives and projects.  They will start to give shape to a new kind of partnership working which will grow from the ground up.

At our annual meeting in September we asked “Who decides Lambeth’s future?”  And we committed to have ongoing conversations with people about what really matters.   We hope these events will inspire you to get involved and to shape the decisions that matter most to you.

So what will the new Lambeth First look like?  In truth, we don’t know yet, but we can give you a few pointers:

•   The partnership will be about the many not the few.  It will rely far less on discussions at Board meetings and far more on discussions in communities and neighbourhoods.

•   The focus of the partnership will be on coming up with new and innovative ideas to shape our local surroundings, rather than money defining what we do.   We need to set free the imagination and enthusiasm within our borough to find new solutions to our shared work.

•   The work of the partnership will not be stored in minutes of meetings or office files, but through sharing information in an open and transparent way. We need to find new ways of exchanging ideas, connecting people to each other, and exploring new possibilities.

•   We will look together – with residents, communities and local businesses – at what needs to happen and how it can happen, rather than have discussions and decisions made by a few

•   The partnership will do community planning rather than have a top down Community Plan.  We need to work with people and communities in their neighbourhoods, to plan and manage where they live.  We need more local knowledge and a broad and shared commitment to action that can only come from a new way of working.