“YourSquareMile”TheChallenge

Thereare93,000squaremilesintheUK.Wetendtoonlyhearabouttwoofthem,thesquaremilesoftheCityandWestminster,andhavefeltbadlyletdownbybothoftheminrecentyears.“YourSquareMile”isaboutenablingcitizenstomakechangesinasmanyoftheother92,998squaremilesaspossible.Thereareanestimated900,000+communitygroupsintheUKand238,000SocialEntrepreneurs.Wewanttoenablecitizenstofindandjointheseorganisationseasily,usingtheirownneedsandpassionsasastartingpoint,andtofeelabletostarttheirownneighbourhoodgroups.Wewanttolinkthesegroups,socialenterprisesandcommunitiestoeachothertoshareideasandresources,complementingtheroleofexistingumbrellaorganisations.Wewanttocreateaplatformtoenableandempowerallkindsofcitizensandsocialentrepreneurstoachievethingstheirway:bean“i‐phonefortheirapps.”

OurVision

TocreatetheU.K’sbiggestmutual:AUnionforCitizenscalled“YourSquareMile”.

OurMission

Toencouragecitizenstobethechangetheywanttoseeintheworldviathesquaremilewheretheyliveand/orwork.Todothiswewill:

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Negotiatenational‘dividends’andbenefitsformembersthatencourageandenablethemtogetinvolvedintheircommunitiesandlocalsocialactionprojects,e.g.cheaper,betterliabilityinsurance,oraccesstopublicbuildingsandfacilities

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DevelopatechnologyplatformthatprovidespeoplewithinformationaboutlocalactionopportunitiesandthebestsocialtoolsandideasfromaroundtheU.K.andtheworld

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Buildasocialecosystemaroundthisplatform,allowingpeopletoshowcasetheirparticipation,givefeedbackongroupsandprojects,andbuildpeergroups

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Provideneighbourhoodgroupsandsocialenterpriseswithaccesstoa‘ringofsupport’fromotherorganisations,linkingthemtotools,bestpractices,servicesandexpertisethatwillhelpthemamplifytheirworkandreplicate/bereplicatedwidely

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Asamutual,YourSquareMilewillbeanew,powerfulvoice–onethatspeaksonbehalfofactivecitizens,andmakesasignificantcontributiontothenationaldiscourse.

OurStructure

AMutual:anorganisationownedbyitsmembersandrunfortheirbenefit.EverycitizeninEnglandandWales(andtherestoftheUKassoonthereafteraspossible)canusethenetworktoachievetheirgoalsand,byregisteringtheiractivity,becomeashareholderinthenetwork.