Shaped by People is a new way of measuring something that really matters, in local people’s own words. It’s a shared goal, created by people in local places across Kirklees, which will help us understand whether people feel able to influence and improve things where they live.
We’re working with citizens to track our progress towards this shared goal. Together we’re creating ways of learning about four key aspects of Shaped by People, because these are the things citizens told us matter most for getting involved.
What we’re aiming to achieve is:
- More people believe that getting involved is worthwhile and feel inspired to take part.
- More people have the confidence to get involved and know how to get support.
- More people feel included, respected, listened to and able to contribute.
- More people feel connected and know people in their communities well.
We’re measuring our progress in three different ways.
Numbers
- We’ve created a scorecard activity to ask how much people agree that they can make a difference in their community (on a scale of 0 to 7). The questions are in the words of local people.
- We asked some questions in the CLiK (Current Living in Kirklees) survey to give us a starting point. The questions we asked are based on what local people have said matters, including whether you’ve got involved in your community in the past 12 months and if something positive came out of it.
- We’ll also be taking opportunities to ask these questions in other activities.
Tell us how you feel
Conversations
We can best understand each other’s experiences by talking with each other and hearing each other’s stories – through conversations, not consultations. We’re continuing to work with local people and organisations to try out different ways of talking about Shaped by People.
Some things we’re working on now are:
- Conversation starter packs that anyone can request, which we’ll send through your letterbox. These are available now.
- Digital resources to help you have conversations online. If you’re interested in hosting an online conversation, please get in touch – we can help.
- Asking questions as part of our How good is our place? conversations, which happen in lots of local places.
- Activities with young citizens as part of our Democracy Friendly Schools programme.
- Workshops where you can talk with other local people about whether you feel able to shape your local place.
Request our Conversation Pack | Contact us
Stories
Shaped by People started with hearing people’s stories – and we want to keep on doing that. We want to encourage everyone to recognise the value of personal stories, as something we can all learn from as well as being a chance to celebrate the great things local people are doing everyday.
Some ways we’re doing this are:
- Working with local organisations to make sure we hear from diverse communities.
- Themed story gathering (stories about a topic, an event, specific people or places).
- Working with our staff to encourage story gathering and to make sure we’re learning from what people tell us.
- Exploring quick story capture options (possibly using an online app).
If you have a personal story to share, or if you’d like to support others to share their story, here are some ways to take part:
How to share your story | Take part online now
Want to find out more?
If you’re part of a local organisation or you’re a member of Kirklees Council staff and you want to get involved, please get in touch. Together we can help more people to share their stories and experiences.
Contact us | Get involved
