Revive & Thrive is an organisation for “everybody passionate about place.” It is a simple premise, yet one which so often gets lost in talk of policy, in negative reporting about the state of the high street and, actually, in being so tied up with the day job that we forget to take a step back and consider the bigger picture. WINNERS!!! Karen Stringer of Wyre Borough Council and colleagues with M
ichael Weedon of BIRA and R&T's Mark Barnes
WINNERS!!! Karen Stringer of Wyre Borough Council and colleagues with Michael Weedon of BIRA and R&T’s Mark Barnes
But, quite simply, Revive & Thrive is passionate about helping those working in “place” to share best practice and learn from what other places are doing while highlighting to them the quality solutions that are available across the board. That is why we host “talking towns” events around the country, why we regularly reach out to our subscribers and membership via email and why we are always especially noisy on Twitter – things change on an almost daily basis and we like to keep everyone up to date with the latest news that can help them in their jobs. And it is also why we run competitions and challenges, which are easy to understand, thought provoking and deliver results and huge added value. Take for example the recent Christmas Lights competition, run in conjunction with Blachere Illumination. Asking communities to consider the economic and social impacts of Christmas lights and switch-on events produced nearly 60 incredibly high quality pieces of work that, even for those who didn’t make the final, will have left them with a greater understanding of why they do it – not just that they should because it’s the ‘done’ thing! And as for the finalists, well, not only did they experience a fantastic day out at the home of Blackpool Illuminations, they made some great contacts, learned even more about the value of Christmas lighting and – in a surprising turn of events – every team went home with a prize, thanks to the generosity of the competition sponsors. Even beyond that, we have already had news from one of the finalists, Park Street, St Albans, that their local council has match-funded their £1000 prize with a further £1000 donation to the street’s Christmas lights. Add to this the genuinely positive and widespread PR generated for the finalists and many communities across the country can hope to be celebrating their most successful Christmas periods ever! The winners - St Leonards Town Team
The Blachere Christmas Light Competition winners – St Leonards Town Team
Similarly, the Revive & Thrive 2014 Challenge, which started out with a prize fund of £10,000 and which closed with a prize pot of nearly £200,000 had a similar impact on the winners. Karen Stringer, Senior Economic Development Officer for Wyre Council, the winning area, wrote a great piece for us earlier this year about the impact the prize had on their towns and it’s well worth another read. Karen summed up the value of the prize really nicely by saying that “…the singular most important outcome for us has been a new focus on our town centres, an appreciation of the problems they face and the relationships we have created with traders as people and members of our community.”
So we head to our latest Challenge, and for once, the gauntlet has been thrown at the door of the providers rather than the practitioners. Challenging companies that provide “high street solutions” to demonstrate why they are the best in class at what they do has made many of our competitors really take stock and consider what it is that they do, how they deliver it and how they can develop proper relationships with people working in place, beyond simply seeing them as customers. And, of course, for those working to make their places better, they will be able to choose a supplier who has considered these options, properly developed their product and, with a bit of luck, been branded a winner at the Revive & Thrive Challenge Event 2015. The Revive & Thrive proposition, therefore, is as simple as it sounds. We work with communities to help them consider what it is they need and to help find them the best solutions while working with the solutions providers to make sure that their offers are fit for purpose and deliver tangible benefits to customers. We really are an organisation that is for anyone who is passionate about place! For further evidence please have a read our testimonials. For more information call Mark Barnes on 07590 005692 or email [email protected].
