Building a Narrative for the North East
Event Round-up - 18 July 2023
The North East is a region with tremendous pride, but it’s also a place which can lack in self-confidence, meaning while we might know the region is a brilliant place to live, we don’t believe anyone else thinks that.
There are also several versions of the North East - one with a high quality of life, a supportive sense of community and tremendous opportunity, but several others where people are deprived the benefits the region can bring.
The challenge is building a narrative for the North East that takes account of that, reaches and resonates with everyone, and still presents a positive version of the region where opportunity and potential sits centre stage.
Solving that challenge will need input from across the region - it’s public sector, it’s business community, it’s charitable and voluntary organisations, it’s universities, and it’s people.
The event on 18th July - hosted at One Strawberry Lane, a collaborative and community-focused workspace in the centre of Newcastle - started that dialogue with over 40 attendees from across the region.
They heard from three leading voices in the region - Sarah Waddington CBE, director of Wadds Inc and founder of Socially Mobile CIC; Jamie Hardesty, head of communications and stakeholder engagement at Sunderland Software City; and Laura Brewis, founder and project director at We Make Culture.
“A huge region with brilliant natural, physical and people resources - but also unacceptably high levels of inequality, poverty and deprivation.”
— Attendee response to the question ‘What does the North East mean to you?’
Attendees at the event had the opportunity to share their views, and steer the conversation with the speakers.
As the event began, those in the room were asked what the North East meant to them - many answered that it meant home, ambition, passion or innovation. Answers also mentioned pride in the past, and an optimism for the future.
Even amongst the positivity, there were hints of the issues facing the region with responses mentioning poverty, deprivation, and the region’s tendency to be insular.
Is the North East great?
When asked to rank the region on five measures (shown in the diagram), attendees considered the North East a great place to live (4.6 out of 5), but less positive as a great place to work and build a career, a great place for younger people and whether it was a fair place overall (all 3.3 out of 5). Attendees considered the region to have a slightly more positive outlook for older people, giving it 3.6 out of 5.
How can we build a narrative?
In a naturally flowing discussion, there were two main topics for the panel - first, how to define the audience (or audiences) for a North East narrative, and second, how to make sure it reached and spoke for everyone in the region.
There was a consensus that a narrative for the region needed to reach both an internal and an external audience - while it would be no good just speaking to yourselves, it would be equally misguided to fail to communicate with those who would need to be inspired by and live the regional narrative.
Each of the speakers includes in their work an effort to reach out into groups who are either disadvantaged or disenfranchised and offer opportunities for progress - whether that’s in their careers, through understanding of technology, or through access to music, culture and creativity.
That ethos came across strongly during the panel, with discussion of how to make sure a range of voices were heard during the development of a narrative, and a conclusion that extensive efforts need to be made to be accessible and to spend time listening.
Throughout the discussion, attendees were sharing their views on what should be part of a North East narrative - a selection of those are shared below. You can view the full set of responses, along with the presentation slides here.
What’s next?
The 18th July was just the start of what will be a long and wide-ranging conversation. There was a sense of enthusiasm and optimism amongst attendees, and a desire to continue the dialogue.
A follow-up event is being planned for later in the year - be the first to know by subscribing to my newsletter below.
What needs to be in a North East narrative?
“Young voices, diverse communities, honesty, accountability.”
— Attendee Response
“Linking the disadvantaged to the opportunities which would make a difference to their situation and future prospects.”
— Attendee Response
“Our soft power - culture, sport (not just football!) and our heritage of social and industrial innovation.”
— Attendee Response
“Being able to look forward to what we could be, not just what we were/are.”
— Attendee Response