Hello from me
I joined ADSO in February and although I’ve been busy refreshing our communications since then (we hope you like the new look newsletter), I wanted to take a moment to say a proper hello. I’m currently Engagement and Communications lead for Kirklees Democracy, Co-organiser of the Notwestminster network, and part of the UK Democracy Network Steering Group. As an active citizen in my neighbourhood, I co-ordinate a community of food growers. I’m busy sowing thousands of vegetable seeds right now, so I can give away lots of plants to people in my community later this Spring. These things are not unrelated. I believe that democracy happens where you are, and we are all part of it, everyday. I helped create this short video for citizens, to share what local democracy really means:
A time for growing
I’m pleased to have joined ADSO at a point of renewal. We’ve now grown into a community of over 1,500 people who work in local democracy. We want to make sure that we also grow the support that’s available to you, and that we make the voice of the ADSO community even stronger in the wider democracy sector. Recruiting a Chief Executive is an important part of this. Also for me, being part of this journey is an opportunity to grow and to share my learning more widely. I want to help the whole ADSO community to do that too.
Working in a Modern Democracy
Today we had the first meeting of our new ‘Working in a Modern Democracy’ Strategy Group. Together we’re exploring how best to support our members for the future. Key themes are the impact of digital tools and culture on local democracy, including how citizen expectations for openness and participation are changing. Huge thanks to everyone who volunteered to join this group. Look out for opportunities to share your own ideas and experiences as our work develops.
The wombles of local democracy
Voter registration closes today for the local elections on 2 May – elections which really matter for influencing what happens in our neighbourhoods. A small army of Democracy Club volunteers (affectionately known as ‘wombles’) have been busy gathering the scattered candidate data from hundreds of councils across the UK. As we heard at our ADSO webinar with Sym Roe, their skills and dedication at making basic local democracy information easier for citizens to find is an approach that could also be used in future for helping people to connect with their councillors or get involved in decision making year round. In the meantime, we can all help citizens by telling people about Democracy Club’s useful websites.
Who Can I Vote For? & Where Do I Vote?
2024 Local election data summary
Beyond elections webinar (scroll to ‘Previous webinars’ section)
Sharing your stories
Finally, one thing I’ve really noticed about ADSO so far is how many members are actively involved in supporting others in our network. It really is a community, and we want you to know how much we value everyone’s contribution. With this in mind, we would love to do more to showcase your work, both to other members and to the wider democracy sector. If you’d be happy to be featured in a blog post, please get in touch with me: Diane.Sims@Adso.co.uk
Diane Sims, Director of Communications