Founding Hub Birmingham
150 coffee chats, physical conversations in real spaces. The journey so far.
The last year has been quite the rollercoaster, quitting the safe salary and venturing out into the world. Accompanied with not much more than knowing something incredible was going to happen. Why? Something amazing was happening, yes most people I knew agreed we existed in a broken system, frustration was being expressed all round. I had certainly grown up in a world that placed success elsewhere, most notably the capital and not here in Birmingham. Yet, amidst the frustration there was a barrage of voices. Dreamers and doers creating amazing things, mashing up existing ideas with their passions and imagining a future that was in their image, built by them and for a world that felt like the kind of place they wanted to be.
When we embarked on founding a Hub in Birmingham, I could not have imagined that in 11 months we would be partnering with one of the UK’s biggest millennium projects, or that a 3,000sq ft. space would be on its way. This makes me proud, however where has the real learning come and what makes me most excited? Actually, its rather low tech, less innovative and a tad more human. The last year has involved 100’s of coffee chats, physical conversations in real spaces, most notably a few independent cafes which I realise more than ever are radically changing the way we work, interact, share and make our spending choices. It didn’t really involve seeking out self-identified social enterprise founders, or any particular titles. Instead it’s been a journey that meant I met amazing changemakers from across the city, working for a better tomorrow, a better Birmingham. Whether that be in the arts, politics, creative sectors, literature, youth services or corporate sector or across a number of these spaces. The truth is there was no single type of Brummie that I ended up meeting. Instead, the changemaker was a passionate, driven, inspired, creative citizen proud of the city and willing to work together for a better tomorrow. It didn’t matter where they worked, where they were from, what they did — what has struck me is the unspoken vision to do it together and a longing for platforms that make these collaborations easier. Why — because these citizens whether on the brink of a massive tech innovation or a grass roots art projects, knew exactly why they were doing what they were doing, they didn’t need anyone to tell them whether they were right or wrong, they just needed the support to test, grow and cross pollinate these ideas.
The future that we were imagining together wasn’t one delivered by startups alone, or a single type of changemaker but instead one that was grown by us all from the savvy entrepreneurs, the civic pioneers, to those shifting our perceptions through the arts, creative, politics and beyond. The FutureShift festival bought this together in a way I could never have imagined but before me eyes I could see networks that transcended economic restrictions, political boundaries, societal classes and bought together diverse people to share ideas in an open space. I remembered this feeling from previous projects, notably Art 4 Action, TEDxBrum, Faiths Act that I had been involved in over the years, but now a platform existed of resources, networks, spaces and encouragement meant that there would be a tomorrow that was fruitful past this idea exchange. This is exciting beyond measure.
I get asked a lot in Birmingham, do you really believe that system change can happen, and well my answer is yes. When we talk about ‘the system’ to me that is a set of entrenched powers and structures that exists, these systems exist to sustain themselves, and those who run them or benefit most from them wouldn’t benefit from them ever changing, why change it, it works well for them. A big part of it is behaviours, its not the whole answer, but a big part of it I think system change will come when people change, when we move together from old ways of thinking to new ways. When we are able to adapt, create and building something new. When we can take the things that work adapt and redesign them for our own contexts then I think change comes about.
The thing is, I still believe that if we want something to change, we need to build alternatives, show a different way of life. We are the people who are going to do this, the role models, we are the real rock stars, not those in power, not the media & not celebrities. We can’t simply throw our arms up in resignation and sit back, or wait for someone else to come and lead, we kind of have to do it for ourselves, and we kind of have to get on with it now. This last year has shown be this passion, this fire, this will to create a more equitable, democratic and imaginative world exists, it exist right here in our home city and it is alive and well. It’s all on us, to do it together.
Hub Birmingham welcomes all encouragers, creative, dreamers, doers, makers, entrepreneurs & pioneers. Lets build this together, for us and by us.
