The group held 3 assemblies in Wigan last year, where locals came together for compassionate, honest and productive discussions about local and national issues that concerned them.
The meeting on Monday aims to put together a team of people who feel strongly that the residents of Wigan are not having a say in the decisions made by the council. The team will then set up assemblies in communities around the town which will produce demands from the residents.
Sue Price, from Springfield, a member of Wigan Assemble, said:
“People are crying out for change - they see decisions about their town being made without their views being considered and they see national policies affect them, often directly, like the removal of the Personal Independence Payment. Collective action is needed.”
Wigan Assemble is supported by Assemble, which is an organisation that’s training and funding grassroots groups to fix the power imbalance that’s choking democracy in the UK.
An Assembly is a big neighbourhood meetup where people agree on what needs to change, and agree to do something about it. They’re understood to be a tool that can solve the thorny issues where politicians stumble. Wigan Assemble intends to hold 3 Assemblies before creating a Community Charter with 5 key issues.
Wigan Assemble will be presenting the Community Charter to the local council to address. Matters of national relevance will be passed up to the House of the People - a new democratic chamber for the UK being inaugurated in July 2025. Assemble is proposing that this genuinely democratic body replaces the House of Lords.
Bertie Coyle, 30, one of Assemble’s founders, said:
“Quite simply, community organising is the best way to make us safer from disaster and avoid the election of extreme political parties. Most professional politicians are controlled by lobbyists and greed. Only people like us – our teachers, nurses, neighbours, and friends – can do right by us.”