We need to talk about Terry

I met Terry the other day. He doesn’t know I’m writing about him. When he finds out, I hope he’ll be flattered, he certainly should be. You see Terry is a true community activist although he probably won’t see himself as such. He certainly doesn’t look the part, but as a campaigner, he’s a natural. He’s the sort of person those charged with responsibility for making ‘Big Society’ work will usually overlook.

To be frank, he has more clout than many bureaucrats, if only because his commitment to his cause is absolute. Like a Kamikaze pilot, he’s got one agenda and little to lose by not giving it his all. However in place of a zero fighter plane Terry pilots a mobility scooter. In place of a flying helmet he wears a flat cap. In place of an oxygen mask he sucks air through a cigarette.

Terry lives in Colchester. He’s a member of a small community organisation concerned about the future of their neighbourhood. He was with a group of local councillors, invited by a local social landlord Colne Housing to take me for a walk. The plan was to show me the town’s former dock area, called The Hythe. Later that day I was speaking at Colne’s board away-day.

The place is part derelict, part new housing and part industry. It is a regeneration jigsaw, with the pieces scattered at random, with the picture yet to be formed. New businesses have moved in; most memorable being a funeral directors and a gay bar. Neither perhaps appealing to the young families the area needs to attract.

Outside the local convenience store, a swinging sign offers cash for scrap cars. In the community centre was a visiting trader, offering cash for gold jewellery. And although unfair to assume, it was difficult to disassociate the black smoke spiralling skywards from the scrapyard with the frequent disruption to nearby rail services caused by trackside cable theft.

Let me make it clear that everyone I met that morning was charming, enthusiastic and welcoming. Terry however stood out from the crowd. Let me tell you what he did and why the techniques he instinctively used are so very effective. His goal was to have a roadside wall demolished and the strip of land behind landscaped as a riverside park.  Here’s how he got his project onto my agenda. I’ll present it as a five point checklist:

1.    Research – Terry greeted me by asking why I was wearing shoes. He told me how he’d visited my website and had liked the ‘barefoot entrepreneur’ branding. He knew who he was meeting and what influence I might have in his campaign;

2.    Rapport – Terry asked me about my connection with Colchester. He told me he’d been born there. So too had my father and his father too. We quickly recognised we shared a lifetime connection with the town. It’s vital to establish good rapport with those you seek to recruit to your campaign;

3.    Relevance – You only have credibility as a campaigner if you can truly demonstrate you know your subject. Terry learned horticulture as a boy. He worked in the sector and has succeeded in creating a community gardening project. Terry’s experience, as well as his passion made him easy to believe in;

4.    Reason – Too many campaigners have self interest too much at heart. You know that deep down it’s really mostly for them. Of course Terry wants the project for himself; he’s old and perhaps sees it as his legacy to the town. But he also took me to several vantage points so I could see for myself why his project was so important. Overlooked by new flats, it’s currently a scruffy overgrown area. As it is, it spoils the view!

5.    Resonance – Terry has to work to get people to see his vision. This is because development in the area has been haphazard to date and there’s a lot to do. However it’s clear that his project resonates with the bigger picture for The Hythe. No matter what detailed plans are created, his idea will fit in. He’s not at odds with the crowd, he’s out front showing us the way.

When it was time for us to say goodbye and part, Terry left satisfied. He knew he’d got to me and scootered off to celebrate with a well earned pint of Guinness.

So my advice to you is to find the Terrys in your community. Listen to them and nurture their activism. To create tomorrow’s Britain, everyone needs to talk about Terry!