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Correspondence

Copies of emails sent to indie-town.uk, concerning the principles and mechanics of independent politics and associated movements around the country.

FAQ's

Young Independent needs help

1/2/2018

1 Comment

 
Email
harryredmond@rocketmail.com

My name is Harry Redmond and I am standing as an Independent Candidate in the London Borough of Enfield in the May local elections.
I believe my case is slightly different to others, so while I totally agree with the sentiment and the motivations in other Independent movements, I have struggled to find practical advice that I can transfer to my own campaign, and I hope you could help with that. Obviously being in London is different to some of the more rural Councils in Cornwall and Somerset in which Independents have succeeded. Also, while I have Chaired a party, ran a local campaign, served as an agent and campaigned in General and Leadership elections,

I am 20 years old. This means that the networks I have are mainly with those a similar age to myself, who make up a very small percentage of the electorate and, despite the impact that Corbynmania has had on political engagement, are not particularly interested in the work of Local Councils and the current local political climate. Finally, in Enfield there is an entrenched two party split of Labour and Conservative, with Labour currently in the majority. They have held a monopoly over the Council since the SDP made inroads, so they are so heavily entrenched that people are not used to change, and therefore are taking more time than expected to win over to such a radical change.

I hope I have helped explain my campaign and the difficulties that come with it. In terms of policy, I am basing my platform on the wishes of residents, and since that consultation is still in progress I have not got a finalised platform, although I expect that to be sorted by the end of the month.

Kind regards, Harry Redmond.

1 Comment

A national network/forum for ‘place-focused civic activists’.

31/1/2018

0 Comments

 
The following was sent to indie-town.uk by Richard Walker
Paul Salveson and Richard Walker of Northern Umbrella and Peter Stonham and Hillary Randall of Discover Britain’s Towns, have put together a thinkpiece on developing a national network/forum for ‘place-focused civic activists’. 

We are trying to define a particular space in the wide area of volunteering/’third sector’ activity related to finding and bringing together active citizens who are particularly focused on making their town or place feel like it is thriving because it has kept and is using the civic qualities that make it distinctive, not struggling because it has lost them.

In 2018 we are holding gatherings in Wigan, Bexhill and Somerset to discuss the concept further. 

Courtesy of hotel proprietor Antony Brunt, the first of these will be at the Yarn Market Hotel, Dunster, Somerset on Sun 11th and Mon 12th February.  The programme will comprise a workshop meeting on the Sunday late afternoon/evening, followed by dinner, and then on the Monday morning an action plan meeting followed by an exploration of Dunster & Minehead. 

We are extending the invitation to people with experience in civic activism, who take a broad strategic outlook, are happy to work across boundaries, and are also diverse in terms of geography, gender, etc.  

Having reached out to the REconomy project, members of Devon Convergence, we were pointed to Somerset Convergence, and it looks like you are closely complementary with lots of overlaps and lots of positive potential synergy.  We are equally interested in reaching out those active citizens who are focused on generally improving their town or delivering a particular civic project (as a random example, say, a civic group to buy & renovate the town pier so as to keep it open to the public), as well as those who see such activity as one way in to wider radical change in the way our economy and politics works.

You are warmly invited to all or any of the get-together programme.  With a cast of experienced do-ers, I am confident the get-together will be congenial and informal, and very productive.   The Yarn Market Hotel has kindly offered a special rate for dinner bed & breakfast for the Sunday and Monday nights of £60 for one night, £100 for 2 nights.

If you are interested in the concept but can’t make those dates, do let me know.  We will also be attending the Ctrl-Shift summit in Wigan on 27-29 March; we will meet Devon Convergence there and maybe also yourselves! 

Richard Walker

0 Comments

March 14th, 2016

14/3/2016

0 Comments

 
From: Anna Betz [mailto:anna@enliveningedge.org] 
Sent: 27 February 2016 23:20
To: petermac@gn.apc.org
Subject: Transition movement, TEAL, governance
 
Dear Peter,
Thank you for subscribing to Enlivening Edge. 
Am I correct in thinking  you are the mayor of Frome and the author of Flatpack Democracy? 
If that is the case, I would be really interested in hearing about your interest in TEAL and experience with governance.
What inspires you about Enlivening Edge? 
Is there any way we could support your work?
Best wishes
Ann

On 14 Mar 2016, at 10:39, Peter Macfadyen <petermac@gn.apc.org> wrote:
Anna
Thanks for this
You think right (though Mayors only last a year and I have now moved on from that post!)
I joined because I felt there might be interesting sharing to benefit from and contribute to......
At the lowest levels of ‘democracy’ we are struggling to find ways to develop ways in which volunteer councils with ever increasing responsibility, operating in communities with less and less resources outside of themselves, can survive and thrive....
Can you support our work?  I have no idea yet as I don’t really know what you think Enlivening Edge might offer!
Best wishes
Peter
 
From: Anne Betz [mailto:modernherbalmedicine@gmail.com] 
Sent: 14 March 2016 11:30
To: Peter Macfadyen
Subject: Re: Transition movement, TEAL, governance
 
Thank you for this feedback. 
The way we could possibly help would be through providing a platform like Enlivening Edge, connect you to similar initiatives and people and together keep leaning into possibilities, identify obstacles and co-create enabling structures where the future can emerge. The 3 breakthroughs of wholeness, self-management and evolutionary purpose and how to support their evolution could be guiding the conversation. 
Just a few thoughts. 
What if anything inspires you about TEAL? 
Best wishes
Ann
 
Peter Macfadyen 
14 March
to Anne, info.indietown

Ann
I’m going to copy this string of emails to Indie-Town.uk who are already in the process of doing some of what you describe..... they might be interested in  seeing what you are up to and planning.... and you might have thoughts on how things do or don’t overlap.
I’ll have a think about your possible inputs and come back later
Peter
0 Comments

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