There are 337 Fire Departments in the State of Maine USA, and 94% (316 of them) are Volunteer Fire Departments (VFDs). For a population of roughly 1.3 million, that works out at about 1 Fire Department per 3,964 Mainers. In Wales we have approximately 153 Fire and Rescue Stations, all operated by paid professionals. For […]
Take me back to Alphonso Street (Dowlais) #ChurchillFellowship Post 15
Alphonso Street, Dowlais. Please excuse the obscure post title. Alphonso Street is a place in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil. Remarkable and exciting (for me anyway) because it’s where a Spanish Community that traveled from the Basque Country settled in South Wales in the 1900’s. I’ll explain more in a minute. Mutual Benefits – cooperation between Wales […]
How many; Post Offices, Libraries and Volunteer Fire Departments = Socialist Utopia? #ChurchillFellowship Post 14
In September I drove over 2,250 miles around Maine, Massachusetts, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia (in an economical compact car) . It was part of my Churchill Fellowship travels. I think its fair to say I saw a lot of small towns along the NE Coast of the USA and Canada. One thing that […]
GSEF2018 Bilbao, that was brilliant! Now to get Wales to GSEF2020 Mexico City. #ChurchillFellowship Post 13
I’m still in Bilbao. Fizzing with enthusiasm after 3 days of the Global Social Economy Forum conference. Apologies if I’ve been spamming you with Tweets. There’s a mountain of information I need to digest and share, which I will try and do through a variety of routes. Just to set the scene, here are a […]
IMAGINE – everyone working towards a common aim, the benefit of Future Generations. #ChurchillFellowship Post12
This is a post for anyone interested in how; people, the place where they live, what happens there, private enterprise, public services and government, all co-exist in a way that is focussed on making sure future generations have something left for them to continue in that place. So, I’d like you to take a deep […]
Over 50’s Social Entrepreneurs Bootcamp. Use voluntary early retirement payoffs for something different. #ChurchillFellowship Post10
This might be my daftest idea yet. If it’s as obvious as I think, why isn’t it already happening in Wales? Here’s the idea. An intensive University Degree Course, aimed at the over 50’s. On the course the participants will; create real businesses, with a strong social purpose (cooperatives if possible), and get a degree out […]
The Panelfisa Paradox. What widget making teaches us about sustainable human development. #ChurchillFellowship Post 9
“Panelfisa Coop, The important thing was not the screws” This post is about the transformation (a deliberately chosen word) of Panelfisa, a worker owned industrial manufacturing cooperative in the Basque Country. It’s not a ‘recipe book’ case study claiming… “follow these 5 easy steps and you too will transform your organisation”; life just isn’t like […]
