From Shared Stories to Community Action: The True Shift in Co-Creation

Our 14-week co-design journey in Barne Barton and St Budeaux culminated in its most vital phase: the shift from co-creating an interconnected story to actually starting to deliver that story and make it a reality. The final facilitated session in early January was a pivotal moment, designed to empower community members to step into leadership and drive the next phase of change.

Stepping In, On Their Own Terms

The focus of this final week was intensely practical and deeply human. We aimed to:

• Identify passionate individuals: Who wanted to move forward and on what terms?
• Define starting points: Where did they want to begin their journey of action?
• Ascertain support needs: What resources or assistance did they require?
  There was an important "embodied activity" around how people felt about being resourced, whether through vouchers or payments. The formal, facilitated co-design phase, with its associated resources for participation, was coming to an end. A sum of money had been allocated for the next phase, with the crucial understanding that the group itself would decide its deployment.

The Natural Evolution of Leadership

As anticipated, a natural sifting process occurred. A significant number of participants, while grateful for the experience, gracefully stepped back due to other commitments or the cessation of the voucher system. A large group of 30 organically transitioned into a smaller, dedicated core of about 10 individuals.
Crucially, the majority of this continuing group were local residents who possessed the raw appetite, energy, and passion to take the next bold step.
What emerged from this committed group was truly inspiring: "We don't want to use the money to pay for our time. We would rather put our time in and save the money to do the things of benefit to our local community that we talked about in our interconnected story."
This powerful statement perfectly encapsulated the essence of contribution-led co-creation. It marked a clear transition from participation in a structured process to genuine community ownership. The Belong in Plymouth team readily offered support and contributions to help this resident-led group take their next steps.

Community Action Unleashed: "By the People, For the People"

The momentum was immediate and impressive:

• Formation of a Group: They formally organized, deciding on a name that reflected their collective identity.
• Formal Structure: The group quickly established itself with a constitution and a shared bank account, demonstrating their commitment and readiness for action.
• The Buzz Magazine: Building directly on the "Take My Hand" concept, they co-designed and launched their own community magazine, "The Buzz," which has already seen two successful editions.
• Street Engagement: With support from the NHS research team's bus, they conducted street engagement, taking their "where next" conversations directly back to the community.
• New Activities: They further developed one of the core ideas, establishing a Saturday activity group focused on theatre and other creative pursuits, providing much-needed opportunities for local children.
• First funding bid to extend activities submitted.
  This group has gone from strength to strength, embodying the transition from discussing ideas to implementing positive action for its local community.

The Core Learning: Knowing When to Step Back

The ultimate lesson from this entire journey is profoundly simple yet incredibly powerful:
When you give people the opportunity to step up and step in, to truly take ownership, and to be valued (and value each other), then the community can take the lead, and agencies can step back.
The "moral of the story," if there is one, is knowing when to step back enough to let others step forward and take ownership. This intentional release of control and shift of power is the hallmark of true community-led change. We began with "how might we," and ended with "by the people, for the people."