“Your
Square
Mile”







The
Challenge



There
are
93,000
square
miles
in
the
UK.
We
tend
to
only
hear
about
two
of
them,
the
square
miles
of

the
City
and
Westminster,
and
have
felt
badly
let
down
by
both
of
them
in
recent
years.
“Your
Square

Mile”
is
about
enabling
citizens
to
make
changes
in
as
many
of

the
other
92,998
square
miles
as

possible.



There
are
an
estimated
900,000+
community
groups
in
the
UK
and
238,000
Social
Entrepreneurs.
We

want
to
enable
citizens
to
find
and
join
these
organisations
easily,
using
their
own
needs
and
passions

as
a
starting
point,
and
to
feel
able
to
start
their
own
neighbourhood
groups.
We
want
to
link
these

groups,
social
enterprises
and
communities
to
each
other
to
share
ideas
and
resources,

complementing
the
role
of
existing
umbrella
organisations.



We
want
to
create
a
platform
to
enable
and
empower
all
kinds
of
citizens
and
social
entrepreneurs
to

achieve
things
their
way:
be
an
“
i‐phone
for
their
apps.”



Our
Vision



To
create
the
U.K’s
biggest
mutual:
A
Union
for
Citizens
called
“Your
Square
Mile”.



Our
Mission



To
encourage
citizens
to
be
the
change
they
want
to
see
in
the
world
via
the
square
mile
where
they

live
and/or
work.
To
do
this
we
will:




• Negotiate
national
‘dividends’
and
benefits
for
members
that
encourage
and
enable
them
to

get
involved
in
their
communities
and
local
social
action
projects,
e.g.

cheaper,
better
liability

insurance,
or
access
to
public
buildings
and
facilities

• Develop
a
technology
platform
that
provides
people
with
information
about
local
action

opportunities
and
the
best
social
tools
and
ideas
from
around
the
U.K.
and
the
world


• Build
a
social
ecosystem
around
this
platform,
allowing
people
to
showcase
their

participation,
give
feedback
on
groups
and
projects,
and
build
peer
groups

• Provide
neighbourhood
groups
and
social
enterprises
with
access
to
a
‘ring
of
support’
from

other
organisations,
linking
them
to
tools,
best
practices,
services
and
expertise
that
will
help

them
amplify
their
work
and
replicate
/
be
replicated
widely



As
a
mutual,
Your
Square
Mile
will
be
a
new,
powerful
voice
–
one
that
speaks
on
behalf
of
active

citizens,
and
makes
a
significant
contribution
to
the
national
discourse.



Our
Structure



A
Mutual:
an
organisation
owned
by
its
members
and
run
for
their
benefit.



Every
citizen
in
England
and
Wales
(and
the
rest
of
the
UK
as
soon
thereafter
as
possible)
can
use
the

network
to
achieve
their
goals
and,
by
registering
their
activity,
become
a
shareholder
in
the
network.

They
will
receive
dividends
in
the
form
of
financial
and
in‐kind
benefits
from
a
range
of
partners,

including
private,
public
and
non‐profit
sponsors.



Our
Key
Steps
and
Goals



Over
the
summer
and
autumn
of
2010
we
will
engage
in
a
public
co‐designing
process
to
gather
ideas

and
best
practice,
to
raise
awareness
and
solicit
feedback
on
our
proposals
for
Your
Square
Mile.

Concurrently,
we
will
work
with
commercial
and
non‐commercial
partners
to
develop
a
benefits

package
for
membership
and
a
delivery
platform
that
will
be
as
inclusive
and
easy
to
use
as
possible

(including
PC’s,
mobiles,
public
kiosks
and
other
technologies
as
well
as
printed
materials,
community

centres
and
face‐to‐face
meetings.)



By
December
2010
we
will
have
launched
Phase
1
of
the
mutual
providing
national
tools,
advice
and

practical
benefits
such
as
highly
affordable
liability
insurance
for
all
kinds
of
local
volunteering
and

events.
We
will
gather
local
information
from
our
growing
body
of
members
and
conduct
pilots
in
2011

to
learn
how
best
to
implement
services.
Working
community‐by‐community
and
learning
from
what

works
and
what
doesn’t,
we
will
focus
initially
on
key
population
centres
and
then
gradually
transition

to
the
entire
UK
–
much
like
the
expansion
of
a
mobile
phone
operator.



Our
Key
Partners



Above
all,
we
will
work
with
Britain’s
thousands
of
social
entrepreneurs,
community
organisers
and

active
citizens,
and
support
them
by
helping
to
create
a
culture
of
civic
engagement.
We
will
seek
to

partner
with
the
5,000
planned
Community
Coordinators
and
other
community
leaders
as

Ambassadors
for
our
movement:
talent‐spotters,
cross‐pollinators
and
enablers
of
local
ideas.



To
build
on
the
local
actions
of
individuals
and
neighbourhood
groups,
we
will
work
with
national

government,
local
authorities
and
councils
as
well
as
local
and
national
businesses
and
professional

services
firms.
We
will
raise
support
and
funding
from
individuals,
foundations
and
businesses.



How
Will
We
Measure
Success?



We
will
focus
measurement
on
the
following
tangible
outcomes:



‐ Numbers
of
individuals
and
new
or
existing
organisations
registered
with
The
Big
Society

Network

‐ Numbers
of
active
community
/
neighbourhood
groups

‐ Levels
of
self‐reported
trust
amongst
neighbours
and
in
society
at
large

‐ Number
of
citizen
petitions
and
ideas
delivered
constructively
to
Government
via
the
Network

‐ Numbers
of
neighbourhood
websites
and
online
groups

‐ Numbers
of
neighbourhood
gatherings
such
as
The
Big
Lunch