By Rachel Jones - http://rachelvictoriajones.co.uk/ Born in 1991, Rachel is an artist based in London.  I’ve always felt immobilized by politics in a way that made me feel like it wasn’t something I could participate in beyond voting. The idea that anything I might do would be ineffectual, kept me from engaging with politics beyond the basics. But last year … Continue reading You are qualified to make a difference; you just need to get started….

By Daniel Mackintosh NOTE – this blog came out of a number of conversations amongst London Citizens Organisers and the work of the Reach Hub, which is currently building a long term campaign to tackle Special Educational Needs, a goal which reaches beyond any election cycle. On 10 June 2021, at age 36, I became … Continue reading Long-term thinking, short-term change in civil society institutions

By Daniel Mackintosh, August 2020 (with particular thanks to Tom Chigbo for his wise comments) 170 years ago, people like me were not allowed to become British Members of Parliament, nor vote in British elections.[1] Why? Because I am Jewish. That sounds strange today because we have witnessed a significant expansion in who can vote … Continue reading Reclaiming Citizenship: Not a legal status, but a local practice

This blog is compiled from Citizens UK national training, Industrial Areas Foundation national training, the Citizens UK Diaspora Team and the Faith in Action ‘Role of a Powerful Clergy Leader’ By Daniel Mackintosh I have had a number of conversations with institutional leaders, who, after joining organising training, understand that leaders have relational meetings with … Continue reading Powerful organising leaders: who are they and what do they actually do?

by Mei Lim, Director of Reach Children's Hub, Hounslow, as shared at the West London Citizens Strategy Day - a strategy day is where organisers and leaders work together to build the strategy of the local organisation. Some of you might recognise this as Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion, but physics was not my strong … Continue reading “Every action has its equal opposite reaction”

Here are some really excellent resources to begin the work of rebuilding civil society institutions to move from non-racist to anti-racist organisations. These resources are from a US based synagogue (the Hebrew around the Black Lives Matter symbol below says 'Lo Tirtzach', 'Do Not Murder', one of the 10 Commandments). https://kolotchayeinu.org/RWG Continuum_AntiRacist Organisation

By Daniel Mackintosh Organising is a hard job. It often involves some unsocial hours (evening meetings), campaigns that don’t go to plan, struggles to recruit and retain member organisations, tough conversations, many hours of training and coaching and making mistakes. And yet, it is the most rewarding job I have ever done. This blog is … Continue reading Why do you love being an organiser?

By Saeed Haque (Senior Citizens Organiser in Birmingham) A year ago, today, we lost our rock: Sr Ita Keane (1945-2019) to a tragic road traffic accident. Sr Ita Keane was the Director of St Mary’s Convent, an inner-city Birmingham Catholic convent established 178 years ago on Hunters Road in Lozells (St Francis Handsworth parish). Home … Continue reading Remembering Sr Ita: tips for organising

By Heidi Shewell-Cooper Change comes in many forms, through big monumental moments in history not unlike the one we are currently experiencing, through charismatic leaders, through planned campaigns and Citizens actions…… and also through ordinary people taking small intentional decisions to make something better. One of the core aims of Citizens UK is to ‘reweave … Continue reading Good Neighbours always …