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This interview originally appearedÌýinÌýthe theÌýÏã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø Policy Lab magazine. To find out more about Policy Lab and get the latest news events, sign up for their newsletterÌý.Ìý

As with so many parts of the world, we are a nation under strain, and we need to work together to reweave the fabric of our country.Ìý

For our part this reweaving is happening in Grimsby. In the summer edition of the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø Policy Lab Magazine, Jason Stockwood, co-owner and chair of Grimsby Town Football Club (GTFC), and I shared the work we are doing with to harness the power of the 145-year-old football club to build a new future today.Ìý

Our Future creates a platform for all of us to contribute to building a brighter future in this country - rooted in our hometowns. Since we started our work we’ve begun to recongise some clear patterns.

Most clearly of all, people are already doing amazing work. There are great leaders across Grimsby already building a brighter future, whether it is James Elliot,, who has led a drive to clean the Freshney Chalk Stream or the community of the East Marsh who created to transform their neighbourhood and create a beautiful place where everyone can thrive. People are not waiting for permission but are getting on with building the future their hometowns need today.Ìý

There are also many others who want to participate and support them. We have been struck by the desire from people across this country to get involved with the work of Our Future. We created a Grimsby diaspora network, Home Wins, which brings together people who love their hometown and want to support practical change. The network has helped in many ways, ranging from pro-bono legal advice, policy expertise, mentoring, new networks or funding. There is a wide pool of people who really want to get involved and support positive, hopeful change in this country.Ìý

Lastly, there is a magic and joy to the common endeavour that can truly inspire. While there have often been great people doing this work, generally they have been working in isolation, feeling like a lone voice of hope. Our Future brings these people together as citizens not representatives of sectors. There is now a coalition of over 300 people from all walks of life who are bound together by a shared love of home, a desire to be part of something bigger and a belief in the greatness of Grimsby. The football club has become more than a meeting place of people watching the game – it is now a place where people come together to find common cause, make connections, find collaborators, imagine and believe in the possible. There is a joy and alchemy to this.

The story of Grimsby, and places like it, has for too long been one of loss. Yet this does not reflect the reality of the change underway and the potential that exists in places like Grimsby.

There are people up and down our country reweaving the fabric of our nation - imagining and building a better future, a better United Kingdom. They often live in funding deserts and despite that are creating magic – imagine what they could achieve if they had the trust, resources, backing and respect needed to build a future where we all thrive?

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