During our event in July, we asked guests to tell us about the current issues, challenges and opportunities pertaining to social injustice in York.
We also asked them to tell us who they'd go to for any specific issue. It was clear that in the majority of cases, people didn't know which groups or organisations they would go to to address the issues identified. We had lots of question marks left all over the page.
Your feedback collated:
Overall needs in the city:
Financial pressures on families
Anti-social behaviour
Mental Health
Lack of accessible spaces
Digital Inclusion
Transport links - poorest areas have the worst
There were three main themes that came out of the work:
1) Participation and inclusion
The need for accessible spaces and digital inclusion overlaps with how we ensure that people can participate and be included in collective action.
We heard that:
Participation has previously seemed tokenistic, and that people feel their interests aren't equitably represented
Those who are in the poorest areas of the city feel disenfranchised and therefore might not participate in democratic processes.
York Together could have a role in increasing participation and collective action by doing something differently.
2) Need for collaboration
People raised that working together and collaboration was important to them. We're interested in exploring whether this means individuals, smaller groups, organisations or communities.
3) Financial pressures on organisations
The need for people working in charities and the public sector are increasing and becoming more complex, yet the resources to address this issue are decreasing.
What we have done with this learning...
The issues listed above are all, of course, long term ones.
We're working on what we can do in the immediate term, but these are also things we'll keep in mind as we progress. We want to be able to foster collaboration however we can, and so we will make collaboration the theme of our next event.
One cross-cutting theme is making sure that those who are often excluded are able to participate. To tackle this, we're committed to ensuring that the way we communicate is accessible. We've commissioned some training around Accessible Communications and will develop a community of practice around this, helping us learn and develop together.
Let us know if you're interested in taking part by contacting emmie@yorktogether.org!
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