A quick list of community resource & skill sharing initiatives…

Streetbank – Putting people in touch with others in their local community (within 1 square mile) to share skills and resources. Read more

Ecomodo –  Allows people in the UK to lend and borrow each other’s everyday objects, skills and spaces with confidence for free, for a fee or for charity.  Read  more

Freecycle – Matching people who have things they want to get rid of with people who can use them, and so keeping usable items out of landfills.  Read more

Makerhood – Community initiative about to be piloted in the Brixton area to promote local artists and makers, and to enable people to buy things made in their local neighbourhoods.  Read more

Just for the Love of it – A ‘pay it forward’ site, the aim is to help reconnect people in their local communities through the simple act of sharing.   Read more

Bank of Happiness – Estonia based virtual collaboration network that allows people to share their skills and time within their communities. Read more

Convergence

Last week I had a very interesting meeting with Marcus Jamieson-Pond to learn more about Convergence – a free network for CSR professionals and social entrepreneurs, that brings people together on a 1:1 basis or in small groups to share best practice and new ideas.

Marcus and I talked at some length about some of the parallels between what Convergence as a network is seeking to achieve, with what we do at Chain Reaction; namely that we are both dedicated to helping people to connect, collaborate and commit to ideas for positive social change.

The only real difference in approach between Convergence and Chain Reaction that I can see is that Convergence operates on a member-get-member basis (i.e. to get membership you need to be recommended – rather like LinkedIn), whereas anyone may join the Chain Reaction network.  (But as Marcus was quick to point out – membership of Convergence isn’t ‘exclusive’ – so I ask you to point your eyes at the page:  becoming a member of Convergence for more info)

Something else that I find interesting about Convergence is the fact that this network has been developed by a group of like-minded individuals from the CSR / business worlds.  In my experience – despite the fact that we can learn much about social leadership from the business sector – the corporate / business sectors often are the hardest audiences to ‘get’ what we do at Chain Reaction.

Chain Reaction offers businesses an opportunity to collaborate with public and third sectors as a way of generating new solutions for better lives for those in the UK and internationally – almost going beyond ‘traditional’ Corporate Social Responsibility.

But this is often hard to get across.  We aren’t profit-making.  We have no real business strategy – just a vision that one talent, experience or idea can unlock the potential of another, creating a powerful chain of energy to build a better world.

And now more than ever (in this period of cuts and ‘austerity’) we will all need to work more collaboratively and creatively across the traditional sectoral boundaries, to deliver a fairer, stronger society.

But Marcus and Co. do ‘get’ these values – which is why I am excited to connect Chain Reaction to Convergence, and look forward to future collaborations!

Find out more about Convergence >>>

Find out more about Chain Reaction >>>