Small actions x lots of people = big change

2 June 2010

Publication: Municipal Journal

In times of austerity, it is even more necessary for change to come from within, rather than for it to be inflicted by policy-makers.

If this could be led by young people taking responsibility through their own actions, it could just be the beginnings of the social revolution which is needed for many of our communities to change for the better.

Small actions x lots of people = big change.

And this is the raison d'etre of the social action organisation, 'We are what we do', and is the drive behind its 'Young speakers programme' funded by my Foundation and V, the volunteering charity.

The aim is to equip secondary school students with the training and skills needed to inspire their peers and primary school children to improve the environment and their community through their own actions.

The pilot has seen 450 students at 26 secondary schools trained to encourage 71,000 children in primary schools to perform small actions, and is proving more effective than some traditional teacher-led lessons.

Actions such as 'taking your Dad for a walk, rather than him driving the car', 'teaching your Granny to text so she doesn't feel alone', and 'simply turning off your mobile at night' in their own right will create social change, but these have not been the only positive outcomes of the Young speakers programme.

One teacher told of how her student young speaker, 'totally blossomed', while another said she would be 'really happy to speak in front of all kinds of people', a valuable confidence and skills boost as she begins to apply to universities and employers.

However, the cuteness of the young speaker's actions can belie not only the seriousness of the issues they tackle – physical health, mental health in the elderly, wastage – but also their method of action.

The small action is a powerful tool which should be embraced, not just by social action groups and primary school children, but everyone, especially local authorities.

The concept of 'Big society' is pointing in this direction, although the idea of running a school or another public service, on top all one's normal commitments is understandably daunting, and not that attractive to many.

Yet the idea of the community helping itself is a crucial one, as the advertising slogan says – 'Every little helps'.

Volunteer at the library or school for a few hours a week, check on an elderly neighbour, or support a community group. Such actions could make the world of difference to some services delivered by public bodies – not bad for a few hours' work a month.