People Can is a response to two things:
People Can is an open invitation to everyone in our communities, neighbourhoods, villages and towns that make up the district to work together and discover how we can make that difference to our lives and places.
Everyone who turns up is a welcome member of the network of people Working Together to make a difference. There are opportunities for each of us to add our contribution whether we are employed in public bodies, a citizen, members of a group or association, a locally based business or another public sector body.
Our approach is based on Working Together and is based on four connected ideas:
As individuals the most powerful tool we have at our disposal is the belief that we can change the situation, we can be the difference. The most powerful tool we have working with others is our willingness to create a shared understanding of the problem – listening to and hearing one another’s stories. We each have a different view of the problem and all of these different points of view are needed to create good outcomes. When we also share our resources (skills, stuff, spaces) making the difference becomes a reality.
When we talked to people in 2016 about making a difference four issues came up:
These became the four themes we focused on:
Be Neighbourly – carry out small, informal, everyday acts of kindness, no need for a song and dance, simply make contact and help.
Community action – create a new group, activity or event with like minded people to begin tackling a local need – litter in the park, blocked up ginnels, a closed Council building etc.
Volunteering – how can we formally devote some of our time to helping others or find people to help.
Find Resources – where do we find funds, stuff, space, skills to get our project idea off the ground.
This website has an events calendar you can use to post information.
Knowledgebase is a starting point for more practical information – here you will find articles that explain how to take the next steps.
Do it: is a tool to offer your time and skills or to find people ready to help.
Diva: is a database of 1,500 community groups active in Bradford District from.
bfunded: provides a database of funding opportunities in the district.
Comoodle: is a stand alone web application where people in Bradford can find and share skills, stuff and space.
All publicly funded bodies do have to find ways of managing a reduction in the money it has to spend on services and to make sure every pound counts. But services and products are much better when they are created jointly with the people who use them. There are also areas where services are probably better created entirely by the users with little if any public sector involvement. People Can is about discovering how these new relationship between people and organisations can work to solve problems.
People Can draws on the principles and values of the Council and its partners:
