In 2017, some women declared "Lass War" against a sexist "Northern Powerhouse". In 2023, the People's Powerhouse charts a diverse path for the North

We were contacted by The People’s Powerhouse to advertise an event they’re co-holding on Thursday 28th September 4-7pm, in Sunderland, and called “The Sunderland Basic Income Conversation".

We love the topic, and we also are intrigued by their partners - not just (and expectedly) Basic Income Conversation, but also the International Community Organisation of Sunderland. It sounds cosmolocal, and it is, in a very practical way - as an advocate and support for minority and migrant communities in the Sunderland area.

But the People’s Powerhouse as a whole - and as a counter to the “Northern Powerhouse” project beloved of national governments - is new to us. We’re glad to tell their story a bit further. This piece from their co-founder Tracey Fishwick does the job:

What started as a Twitter discussion around the lack of female speakers at the Northern Powerhouse Conference in February 2017 rapidly became something much bigger.

We clearly hit a nerve when we said, ‘You forgot to invite the women!’ to those organising a ‘Northern Powerhouse’ event in 2017. We created quite a rumpus.  But those headline grabbing messages ran much deeper.  I quickly learnt a lot about who was ‘in the room’ talking about priorities for the North, and who wasn’t. 

That’s what we set about changing—not giving a woman a token slot on a panel at an event.  In a matter of hours, a group of women decided it was way past time to bring more diverse voices and experiences together to help shape the discourse, priorities, and actions in the North. 

Better transport, infrastructure and business is massively important, anyone stranded at a Northern station in the wind and rain knows this all too well.  But these debates skirt over so many things that matter too – skills, jobs, the environment, happier, healthier people, heritage, culture, and communities.

I’ve lost track of the numerous reports and regeneration programmes that have failed to connect economic growth to local community benefit.  I worked in Knowsley for 16 years, leading employment and skills programmes for people who lived directly across the road from massive business parks. They didn’t get those jobs until we deliberately intervened. That’s why I know investment alone isn’t enough. 

It’s also why I founded Transform Lives Company, based in Liverpool, to transform peoples’ lives through access to employment combined with wellbeing support, building peoples’ social capital and connecting people in work with those who want work.  We’ve become their opportunity makers, connecting people back in to support that works for them, not the system that often alienates them or simply doesn’t flex to meet their needs.   

It was also the experience of moving out of a senior public sector job, and starting a social enterprise from scratch, that made me see how many more organisations like ours, groups and people with skills and expertise across the North were being overlooked, yet they are the ones who could really help bring about a Powerhouse that changes people’s lives for the better. 

I didn’t know when we ran the first People’s Powerhouse in Doncaster that 6 years later we’d still be here, but I really hoped we would be.  We are more needed than ever before, with an amazing team and Board who are driving a vision, the next few years are set to be transformational. 

Being a movement for change has challenged me personally to think differently, to collaborate more, to think hard and demonstrate what inclusive looks like.  We want to include all sectors and sections of the community, and this includes harnessing the combined skills and leverage of the public sector, voluntary, community, civic leaders and business. 

I remain astounded at what People’s Powerhouse has become and I can’t wait to see what happens next, much of that can be determined by you, it absolutely should be, so please get involved.    

From their comprehensive business - they have a news blog, do research, conduct events, map networks - we would easily categorise them as a CAN (or even a CAN of CANs - see one of our incubators). They’re also commissioning poetry (as you’ll see from the embed at the top of the post).

Finally, the People’s Powerhouse are running an annual convention in Preston this year on Wed, 29 Nov 2023 12:00 - Thu, 30 Nov 2023 15:30 (GMT).