Social Action in Nottingham

I’ve been taking a look around Nottingham recently, to gather information within my local area for any communities that are taking action into improving our society. A few things caught my attention however one thing in particular grasped it. I stumbled upon the University of Nottingham’s student union, where they support the Student Volunteering Centre, which works with over 60 different charitable organisations. These organisations vary from providing better housing, helping the homeless and increasing deaf awareness.

One of these charitable organisations is called ‘Tasty Tuesdays’. Tasty Tuesdays Is where a group of volunteers give a late Tuesday afternoon or evening, weekly, once a fortnight or monthly. So they’re very lenient in their volunteers’ availability. The volunteers will help prepare ingredients, cooking, welcoming attendees and taking donations, serving meals, or washing up and cleaning away for a free community meal in Lenton. The team responsible for the volunteers provides training, fun things to do on a Tuesday evening and full support. They are very reasonable with however long you’re able to volunteer for, whether it be a long amount of time or a short amount of time. The meals are cooked and served at the Crocus Café in Lenton, a volunteer-led, vegetarian, community café.

Screenshot from Uni of Nottingham SU website

Another one of these charitable organisations is the Winter Shelter, organised by the Emmanuel House. They say that it is one of the core services which they provide for people who are homeless. They open their doors to fulfil the needs of the homeless and vulnerable people, during the coldest months of the year. They are doing their best to provide shelter, acceptance, physical and emotional support, and encouragement in order to help rebuild as many lives out of homelessness as possible. “Last winter more than 107 people helped and supported 148 homeless people by volunteering in the shelter.” The volunteers’ roles are serve up food, listen to service users, setting up and putting away the equipment and communicating with their colleagues.

Screenshot from Uni of Nottingham SU website 

A few months ago there was also a refugee vigil on the old Market Square, which over 400 people attended to show their support for a campaign urging Nottinghamshire’s councils to take in at least 50 refugees. Adel Golan who fled is homeland 18 months ago composed a speech on the steps of the Nottingham Council House. The message that everyone was holding up said “Refugees are welcome.” Everyone was there to show their support for the refugees and pay respect to the victims of the refugee crisis. Candles were lit, speeches were given and prayers were made.

Photo from Nottingham Post Article

On August 28^th 2014 an article was posted in the Nottingham Post about a Victorian-themed garden party. The event was hosted by the Colville house, ‘a supported accommodation service operated by the homelessness charity framework. It was mainly hosted for homeless women in Nottingham however all guests were welcome including, councillors and stakeholders. Food, drink and entertainment that were part of the Victorian era were provided; costumes were donated by the Lace Market Theatre. 

All of these offerings were to celebrate and inform visitors about the vital role of the Colville Road facility in the local community. The reasoning behind the Victorian-theme is due to the history in the area, and also as a way to explain exactly what they do there, why they do it and who they help. This event helped increase awareness of Nottingham’s homeless. 

Photo from Nottingham Post article

There are multiple social actions I could participate in within my local area in order to help my local communities. The volunteer work on the University of Nottingham’s student union has application processes on each of the charities they’re connected with. This would include Tasty Tuesdays and the Emanuel house. I could volunteer at the Emanuel House and help provide meals for the homeless people of Nottingham, I would not be getting paid but that is not the point of voluntary work, or helping others in general and would defeat the purpose of social action. Other actions I can take would be to simply donate my old clothes for children’s homes or people struggling to find homes, or to simply help the city recycle a lot more by raising awareness of litter. 

I could organise social action group events which I would advertise with flyers or posters. These organised events could involve picking up the cities litter, helping homeless people, interacting with others that have disabilities or problems in life to gain a further understanding and help them move further in their lives. Raising awareness is the key to social action, and that would be my main priority.

#iwill

#iwill

Hashtags have become extraordinarily popular within the past 5 years. They’re used to publicise particular things or ‘spread the word’ on certain messages or encourage movements. One that caught my eye was #iwill.

#iwill is a national campaign which aims to make social action to be a part of many young people’s lives. Social action means taking steps in order to progress or change things that are wrong within our societies, it helps introduce new, innovative ideas and proceedings towards everyday life.

The core premise of this hashtag is to get young people involved within their communities, taking up actions like volunteer work for homeless shelter, litter picking, charity work and other practical matters in order to provide the UK a much more pleasant place to live and keep all the communities running in a much more efficient manner as well as develop the young into experienced adults.

Action approaches are a necessity in order for a clearer understanding of human behaviour; in order for these ideas and proceedings to happen. There are different types of social action which can be used, like: Traditional action, affectual action and value-rational action. Traditional action is action that is a habit, seasonal things like buying people gifts for Christmas and birthdays are related to this. Affectual action is when somebody expresses their actions emotionally, whether it be crying at a funeral or for a loved one on a hospital bed. Value-rational action is when one is taking action towards a goal, which could be committing at the gym to become a boxer or praying to get into heaven.

Tamela Friesen wrote a blog about how we can improve the quantity and quality of home care. She posted it on September 28th on her twitter +TamelaFriesenGPC. She wrote a list in her post about what she will do and what others can do to help along with her. The actions that she is taking are based in Canada, this shows how much the #iwill campaign has spread.

#iwill is being coordinated by the charity Step Up To Serve, governed by an independent board and has cross-party support. Their work has been referenced by the conservative party, Labour party and the Liberal Democrats. All of the parties said similar things like “We recognise that getting young people to take part in social action helps build important skills for adulthood and make the most of their energy and talents while also benefitting the wider community.” From Nick Clegg.

I believe that this is a brilliant way to get young people out into the real world, it can help them gain contacts, work experience, social interaction skills and encourage further generations to continue doing so. There is too much individualism in the UK currently. The entire community aspect is lacking and requires a jolted boost. Therefore a hashtag trend on social media relating to all of these problems is an efficient way to revitalise, and strive for greater, bigger communities as well as smaller ones. This can help effectively develop a further understanding into traditional and affectual human behaviour.