Necessity is the mother of invention

Amidst all the financial uncertainty and cuts, it is easy to think that more funding is the only answer to solving society’s problems. The one silver lining in this time of austerity is that it has encouraged creativity – getting people to think differently.

Here are some examples that show how a change in mindset – and not money – can bring about positive social change.

Some changes are quite simple:

Plymouth has introduced dementia friendly car parking spaces. The designated spaces are close to the ticket machines and exits. It did not cost a lot to mark these out. What it took was listening to carers of people with dementia and deciding to do something to help.

And there are a number of examples of nudge effects like these where small changes can be used to increase desired behaviours. Images of watching eyes have been shown to encourage payments into an honesty box and donations into a charity bucket. And interestingly a sign saying “think of yourself” lead to more people switching off their engine at a level crossing.

Whereas other examples can bring about significant changes in how things are done:

The Mayday Trust have shifted power to the homeless people they support and focussed on their strengths. By giving clients their own personal budgets, the charity no longer has to spend time persuading people to participate in training. Instead clients purchase the training they want to do. And by making having a mentor voluntary, they have actually increased engagement from 50% to 80%.

Rather than older people getting stuck in hospital or having to move away, local people in the Scottish Highlands are providing social care through Highland Home Carers. The help includes neighbourly tasks like chopping firewood, clearing snow and walking the dog and not just personal care.

Wessex Water’s Collaborative Public Health Project tries to address the significant amounts spent on removing medication from water at their treatment plants. Wessex Water is funding a social prescribing project in the Twerton area of Bath to test if environmental and social activities can reduce the use of medication, such as anti-depressants, and so reduce the need to remove these from the water supply.

Homeshare is a great concept tackling both the issue of lack of affordable housing and the needs of older people. The homesharer gets somewhere to live at a reasonable rate in exchange for providing 10 hours of support (e.g. cooking, shopping, companionship) each week to support the householder.

I am sure there are plenty of other examples where a change in approach has led to improvements at no extra cost. Please share your favourite examples.

Emma Beeston advises philanthropists and grant makers on how best to direct their money to the causes they care about. Support includes strategy and programme design, scoping studies, assessments and monitoring visits. www.emmabeeston.co.uk; emma@emmabeeston.co.uk; @emmabeeston01; www.linkedin.com/in/emmabeeston/