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 […]
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 […]
Dig Hill 80, Wijtschate, Belgium. How mass collaboration changes everything.
Please have a look at this video from BBC Breakfast about the Dig Hill 80 an archaeology project at a World War One site in Wijtchate, near Ypres, Belgium. I visited the site two weeks ago and I’m still deeply affected (in a good way) by the experience. The video gives you a sense of what […]
Do Mundane Things Culture Club
Here’s a question. How do you find a parking space for someone visiting your organisation? Is it as challenging as securing a visa for a sightseeing tour of North Korea, for you and your friends from the photography club? Alternatively, do you just check for an available space and book it? Simples! Recently I shared […]
