From a ripple to a wave of connection: our 2022-27 strategy
Posted by The Cares Family on 9th November 2022
Please note: this post is 25 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only
Over the last six months, The Cares Family has been renewing our organisational vision, mission and strategic objectives. In this blog, our Head of Campaigns, Policy and Strategy Rich Bell sets out the main pillars of our 2022-27 Action | Voice | Power strategy.
When people think of The Cares Family, what often springs to mind first is our work to tackle loneliness and to build intergenerational togetherness. We wouldn’t have it any other way – that work is and always will be our beating heart. But it’s also not the only thing we do.
Ever since we got started, in 2011, bridging social, cultural and attitudinal divides has been core to our purpose. After all, the intergenerational relationships formed through our Social Clubs and Love Your Neighbour programmes often also transcend lines of class, ethnicity, faith and worldview. When, in 2020, we launched The Multiplier – a programme through which we invest in, support and connect local leaders seeking to bridge divides in their own communities in their own ways – this seemed the natural next step in our work to nurture social unity.
It's also true that we built our local programmes to help people relate to the changing places around them as well as to one another. Younger neighbours, who often don’t have deep roots in the areas in which they live, regularly tell us that learning about older neighbours’ experiences allows them to feel that they know, understand and belong within their neighbourhood. In turn, having a connection – in the form of a younger friend – to the newly sprung-up office blocks, bars and hipster cafes which can otherwise feel closed off helps older people to feel that their place is still theirs, even as it changes.
In updating our strategy, we wanted to tell that whole story – setting out a guiding vision of ‘socially connected communities in which people’ not only ‘feel
less lonely’ but also ‘more united and that they belong’.
In updating our strategy, we wanted to tell that whole story – setting out a guiding vision of ‘socially connected communities in which people’ not only ‘feel less lonely’ but also ‘more united and that they belong’.
We have expanded our organisational vision in this way because we believe that each of these aspects of our work truly matter. In the disaggregated and digitised Britain of the 2020s, the interweaving social challenges of loneliness, division and dislocation are only growing in both size and urgency. In fact, we believe that our society is now experiencing a full-blown crisis of social disconnection – one which is causing strokes, heart attacks, anxiety, depression and dementia; which is undermining trust in our democracy; and which is deepening the pockets of power and powerlessness which shape our communities.
But we also believe – in fact, we know – that this crisis can be overcome. Indeed, it’s well evidenced that when people connect – most of all across perceived lines of difference – the result is increased health and happiness, trust and togetherness, confidence and capability.
Because our work is grounded in the firm conviction that individual human relationships matter deeply, and doubly so in times of challenge and change, a key plank of our 2022-27 strategy is going deeper in each of our five local places – not just bringing more older and younger people together to share time, laughter and experiences; but also stepping up our local charities’ work to help them sustain meaningful relationships and to feel visible, confident and that they have a stake in their communities.
When people connect – most of all across perceived lines of difference – the result is increased health and happiness, trust and togetherness, confidence and capability.
Equally, as we’ve grown, we’ve grappled more and more with the structural and cultural drivers of loneliness, dislocation and division. And it’s become clear to us that building social connection requires action at the national level too.
That’s why our updated strategy includes ambitious plans to shift narratives, attitudes and behaviours by lifting up neighbours’ voices and sharing powerful stories of community and connection. It’s also why we’re doubling down on our recent work in campaigning for policy change and influencing institutional behaviours through engaging with power.
While we engage with top-down power, we also believe that the most lasting change comes from the bottom up – from people in communities. That’s why we will continue to share our learning with others and to seed and support community-building action – growing The Multiplier and ramping up our plans to enable other organisations to adopt and adapt our model. As we do this, we will consolidate our operations to make sure our charities, and the philosophy that underpins everything we do, remain sustainable for the long-term.
Over the next five years, The Cares Family will fulfil our refreshed mission to ‘bring people together across generations, backgrounds and experiences to build community and connection’ – because, when they do, the ripples of connection will swell into a wave of community, solidarity and belonging.
For more information about our Action | Voice | Power strategy, click here.
