Will we find our voice in 2012?

As the festive season quickly passes from real time to past time, everyone without exception goes into review mode. We review the year that has passed to eke out the lessons so that we may boldly go where no-one has tread before.  If only Gene Roddenberry knew the resonance the words he gave to Captain Kirk would have for all times and all situations.  However staying in this genre, we need the logic of Spock to guide us through reading the runes for 2012.

For all those who are avid Radio 4 listeners you will have heard the panel show where 2010 reviewers were brought back to assess their forecasts which surprisingly had a high level of accuracy.  Although they all admitted that they did not see the Arab Springs coming and were all surprised that the masses at home (us) have been quiet. Have we indeed lost our VOICE? A key question not just for organisations and organised groups but for us all – the silent majority.

Ok, we saw the protest marches around student fees, and the beginnings of the OCCUPY movement and not forgetting the mass lootings of high streets and centres up and down the UK – what lessons can we learn and where will this take us?

Speaking from within the voluntary sector, during 2011 we have witnessed a dismembering of the partnerships and consortium that had taken years to build, the closure of institutional sector organisations, the downscaling of the sector workforce and consequently activity in favour of NIMBYism and territorialism. But, there has also been a flourishing of local activity, a growth in new relationships and structures and maybe, just maybe, this all embracing new broom was well needed. This new broom that heralded Big Society based on 15% - 20% cuts within government departments, 25% - 30% cuts within local authorities and over 30 - 35% cuts within civil society. It is not enough to speculate on the lessons, we need to evaluate and articulate the learning, lest we be silent on matters of family values, social justice, and common good.

With a Golden Jubilee and Olympic New Year ahead, let us forget the forecasting and be more like the Arab Springs – a spontaneous movement reclaiming our VOICE and see where that takes us…….

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