As the new coalition government’s policy changes begin to take effect, we are all wondering about the new terminology: ‘big society’ and ‘civil society’. What do these terms mean? Well, we’ve heard all the rhetoric, and sure enough, there is much left to the imagination. So, let’s be positive about it: ?it’s our opportunity to shape big society ourselves and secure the funding that makes it happen.

Why don’t we colonise the concept in the light of our own experience? After all, we do have plenty of experience in the sector – ask anyone who worked through previous economic recessions. At those times, reuse projects were at their busiest because of high demand from the poorest in society for affordable furniture and because of high expectations from local government, as we had the low cost and practical services needed, and to cap it all we had high levels of volunteering. These three factors usually diminish at times of high economic activity.

There is little doubt that, regardless of the name, the concept of big society is nothing new to the reuse sector; we have been living by values associated with the new dialogue for decades. The FRN was founded with the guiding principles of preventing good furniture going to waste AND helping people out of hardship. Short-term visible benefits pave the way for improving community relationships and life opportunities for individuals. Every reuse project has its story of throwing out a lifeline to an individual, whether it be a customer, a volunteer or a staff member. We have big society in the bag.

So the message to the sector is this: don’t let’s dismiss the big society out of hand. If we disengage with it on whatever grounds you choose to mention, where does that leave us? Instead of focusing on the threats, let’s look at the opportunities ahead under the big society banner.

Funding: as public funding reduces,
perhaps we will be looking for more funding from the business sector; if charities are
squeezed, philanthropy will kick in at some stage!?The economic recovery is being driven through business – therefore should we not work with that?

Challenging inequality: past experience shows that equality is likely to be adversely affected by cuts in the public sector; we need to defend services on the basis of preserving equality of access to services.?

Child poverty: the coalition government is likely to continue to work to the 2020 target of halving child poverty. The reuse sector can justifiably claim that it is the solution for maximising the value of a Department of Work and Pensions grant or loan. A family referred to a furniture project can expect to get wardrobes, beds,
three-piece suites, a dining table and chairs to improve living conditions for a fraction of the cost of new, low-budget furniture.

Volunteering: volunteer centres across London have experienced a doubling in volunteer registrations. The language of ‘volunteering’ is now very elastic: is it work experience and accredited training? Not for everyone. Volunteering is simply helping people, and we should allow this to continue; not everyone wants basic training. Having said that, managers looking to revitalise their recruitment strategies should take into account what’s emerging in the shape of the potential workforce. The government wants to shift the 21 per cent ‘economically inactive’ into jobseekers’ allowance programmes?– this is our labour market. Youth unemployment now stands at 900,000 and it’s rising.

So, how should the reuse sector lobby the government on the big society concept? Here are some practical steps: challenge if we don’t agree; help them to understand the sector (after all, the sector is completely different from when they were last in office); hold them to account; engage with them to make sense of what they are saying.

The sector’s challenges can with effort be overcome. We still depend on the support of the public to make big society work. We can overcome public ignorance, we can challenge public scepticism and we must confront
public apathy.