Steps towards a truly inclusive Blackpool: Defeating Narratives of Division

Steps towards a truly inclusive Blackpool

The series has considered why narratives of division are growing and explored lots of ideas about how we can move forward to create a more inclusive Blackpool.

This session will seek to agree practical steps to put some of these ideas into action. Those steps will be decided by the people in the room, based on their experience and knowledge.

At the end of this session you will be able to:

• Feel: confident in spotting barriers to inclusion
• Know: how to work with those who feel excluded to reduce and remove these barriers
• Do: Identify unifying issues and start the process of building a strong inclusive community in your neighbourhood.

About the training programme

Many good people, exasperated at the growth in narratives of division feel frozen and unable to act as they are unsure how to make a positive impact.

This is the first of a new series of informal online and in-person training workshops begins from the assumption that people who hold divisive views are not necessarily bad people, and that we have a wider responsibility to:

• Engage with them about their views; and
• Work with them to address the issues that are causing their resentment (usually cross-community issues such as low paid, insecure work, housing affordability, the quality of public services, and the breakdown in an inclusive sense of ‘us’ within communities).

Delivered in partnership with the experienced facilitators from Ella Baker School of Organising, these sessions will equip people active at a grassroots level to effectively act to reduce tension, build unity and address resentments.

What will I learn?

Over the last 18 months, we've seen narratives of division poisoning community relations, escalating to violent conflict on our streets. More and more otherwise decent people seem to be being drawn into blaming ‘minorities’ for problems that they have not caused. It could be someone in your group of friends, your family or your wider circle. Sound familiar?

These sessions will share ways that you can create long term change by developing your confidence and skills so that you can build genuine understanding and lasting connections in your own spaces and communities.

Your Training Lead

John Page from the Ella Baker School of Organising has been a long-time organiser in the trade union, anti-racist and community spheres and has worked as a specialist union organiser and as lead organiser at a number of leading anti-racist charities.John has won significant campaigns in the workplace, and has helped organise communities to oppose narratives of division.He is an experienced trainer and has delivered hundreds of on-line and face to face training sessions to the BMA, trade unions, environmental and a variety of voluntary and community sector organisations.

John is co-author (with Jane Holgate) of Changemakers: Radical Strategies for Social Movement Organising.

These training sessions are supported by the Community Cohesion Fund (Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government Community Recovery Fund) administered by Blackpool Council.

The fund was created to support those communities impacted by the public disorder that took place in July/August 2024. It aims to Foster Community Understanding: Promoting a shared understanding of the issues at a community level, developing community cohesion.