North Cambridge is getting one, so can we have one too?
Above – from Cambridge Community Development on FB here
You can sign up for the above-mentioned event via here
The list of participants is also long.
Above – Cambridge Community Development on FB
Above – Nurture Development (2015) Communities are the atomic elements of molecular democracy More than a few of the listed groups also cover associational life, which I wrote about in an earlier blogpost here.
Community groups and their futures on FB
Comms expert and former Local Government Comms Chief Dan Slee who stays up to date with such things posted the following:
“The biggest Facebook shake-up in almost 20 years…. Here’s what you need to know”
“In short:
- “You’ll only be able to post two free links a month to a Facebook page without a Meta One subscription.
“But…
- “You’ll have to pay to reach beyond your Facebook page followers.
- “You’ll have to pay for extra links to posts and also add links within Reels.
- “You’ll have to pay to link from your Facebook page to your website.
- “You’ll have to pay to get a high ranking in Facebook search.“
Above – Dan Slee 25 September 2026
That inevitably will affect anyone who hosts a page or relies on a page for updates. Furthermore, it will mean some policy changes across local government more generally – especially those that run community-facing services and facilities, especially community centres. For example the North Cambridge event has been posted to FB but so far I can’t see it listed anywhere else on Cambridge City Council’s websites.
“What do you want a Shaping South Cambridge event to achieve?”
Mindful of the findings from the Soft Edges report by Humanise which concluded that Bringing people together is not enough:
“The hard truth is, simply bringing people together does not achieve very much. Participation requires carefully designed conditions that allow people to feel comfortable, curious, and engaged. In this project, the workshops were structured as a sequence of activities that gradually moved from individual experiences toward a shared understanding of the neighbourhood. Over time, interactions became more relaxed and participants began exchanging memories and observations”
In a nutshell, to provide a collective challenge to residents curious enough and/or restless enough with life in South Cambridge
At the same time, I also think it’s worth inviting some of the exclusive private institutions that are located in South Cambridge (not least the private schools) and invite them to have stalls, while at the same time challenging them on what their relationship could be with residential communities especially those families with children that do not go to/cannot afford private education. (Compare the sports facilities between The Perse on the north side of Long Road with the Cambridge Academy for Science & Technology, along with Long Road Sixth Form College on the south side of Long Road – eg count the tennis courts south of Long Road vs those north of it on GMaps here).
Lots of participating groups for the North Cambridge event
The North Cambridge event has listed over 20 groups and organisations that will be there for people to meet. And more than a few of those listed are either based in locations south of the River Cam (eg Romsey Mill) or cover the whole city. Also, such an event in South Cambridge might also let residents see (without the hardsell) what neighbouring areas are doing that theirs is not – something that can be followed up if outreach encourages people to say: “I’m happy to do X if other people can commit to Y and Z” etc. Additionally I think it’s also a more conducive environment for people to give more thoughtful and detailed feedback on what their expectations of local government and local service providers are.
This is different to a much larger ‘Cambridge Societies Fair’ concept
I won’t add to what I’ve already written earlier blogposts such as this one other than to say it’s a bit like the Freshers’ Fair – the Cambridge University one being on Parker’s Piece on 06-07 October 2026 (which will have a few town societies there too). And by the looks of it that one will be ***huge*** – with three indoor marquees and a host of outdoor stalls, along with a splendidly/frighteningly warm and sunny forecast for early October. (It’s also the time of year where you can’t move for fast food/food delivery advertising people, so if you want to avoid that fate, avoid Parker’s Piece next week!)
Just because the data shows on average the south of the city is more affluent, does not mean everyone can do everything by/for themselves
The same goes for Cambridge vs the rest of the UK more generally.
Above – Data from the IFS featured in a blogpost I wrote in October 2023.
Note the above is from a time under the last Conservative Government. It remains to be seen if the current Labour Government under Andy Burnham MP will enable local councils in areas generating excess wealth to tax more of that excess wealth to make up for at least some of the shortfall. Because as The Guardian reported back in 2021, the wealth generated in Cambridge is not being shared equally.
“Businesses and senior university managers and ministers have traded Cambridge’s fame for a form of money and success enjoyed by only a select few, even while this has forced up property prices, jammed roads and put extra pressure on schools and Addenbrooke’s hospital.”
Aditya Chakrabortty in The Guardian, 09 December 2021.
As former councillor Sam Davies MBE wrote shortly after:
“Individual philanthropy helps but in addition we need business to listen humbly to the knowledge and lived experience of those who aren’t those who aren’t riding the magic carpet of growth, and make a deep and enduring financial commitment to the future of the city and its people.”
Sam Davies MBE, 12 December 2021
Have a browse through Sam’s earlier blogposts and ask yourselves how much progress has been made since, and by whom. And what impact it has made so far.
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