Be the Best You Can Be - How a Local Authority Inspired a Whole Town!

Bedford Borough Council
Headquarters

Most people would think of their local council as the guys who they pay their council tax to and pick up their rubbish bins every week. However... there is more to some local authorities than meets the eye...

I once heard someone saying “a person without a goal is like a ship without a rudder” and evidence has shown that vision, endorsed by a clear set of goals, is the key to success! I have read my share of books around achievement: from those who speak about using the power of the universe to achieve your goals (such as Jerry and Esther Hicks) to marketing professionals who have had a resounding success (such as Seth Godin) talking about how to become a linchpin... However, I have not yet read a book that talks about discovering your true purpose in life with help from your local council!...

 An Inspiring Local Authority

To my astonishment, through my friend and colleague Joella Hazel, I found out about  a local authority which did just that for the communities they serve, when they created the initiative “Be the Best You Can Be”. Bedford Borough Council gave the community a vision of themselves, of how they could be in the future and most importantly, they allowed the community to meet people who achieved global success, despite at times, immense challenges. Furthermore, they offered the young and old alike in Bedford Borough direct contact with role models they would otherwise only see on TV! How’s that for inspiration?

So, How Did They Bring Inspiration to a Whole Community?

Jack Waiyaki - KCB Chair of Trustees

The Kenyan Community in Bedford (a small charitable organisation), had a dream that they would like to get Olympic Athletes from Kenya to come to Bedford and train there (to give them an opportunity to meet the local Kenyan community), before the Olympics in London in 2012. They had had this idea for a while and had in fact been working to make it a reality; still, it felt like it was never going to happen … especially when the Kenyan Olympic Committee decided to base their athletes in Bristol.

David Brewer and
Paul Tergat

Through Bedford Racial Equality Council, they met David Brewer of Bedford Borough Council who decided to help them make this dream come true. Being a senior officer within the council, he was able to add a bit more clout to the request KCB made to Athletics Kenya as well as supporting the process in more practical terms. However, things were not going to be easy, even with David’s support. We are talking about Olympic Champions here!...

Members of the Kenyan community pulled together and used any contacts or opportunities they had who could have helped reach the athletes back in Kenya. Someone from the community knew a senior official in Kenya who could help facilitate the contact with Athletics Kenya. Another member of the Kenyan community in Bedford was going on holiday to Kenya whilst all this was going on, so he used a considerable amount of his personal time there to further advance the dialogue towards getting the athletes to Bedford. Just like a well known supermarket says, in the end, every little helped...

Several of Kenya's Best Athletes
went to Bedford

This continuous dialogue and contact with Athletics Kenya (AK), gave David and Jack (the KCB Chair of Trustees), the opportunity to meet directly with AK representatives whilst they were at the London Marathon in 2010. In the end, after much negotiation and discussions over the phone and in London, Athletics Kenya agreed to bring to Bedford for a week in June 2010 some of their best athletes:

• Paul Tergat (multiple world champion & record holder & UN Goodwill Ambassador), 
• Catherine Ndereba (two-time World Marathon Champion & ex-Marathon World Record Holder),
• Benjamn Limo (2005 World 5000m Champion & Athletes elected representative on the IAAF),
• Duncan Kibet (Second fastest Marathon runner in history), 
• Wilfred Bungei (reigning Olympic 800m Champion) and 
• Sammy Wanjiru (reigning Olympic Marathon champion & 2009 London Marathon winner).

Katherine, Sammy, Duncan, Benjamin
& Paul at Hospital Children's Ward

Once the trip was confirmed, KCB with David’s support were then able to work in partnership with other statutory bodies to organise six eventful days for the athletes: they visited five schools, the Bedford Hospital Children's Ward, the University of Bedfordshire, Bedford and County Athletics club and so on.

I am not very familiar with what the typical schedule of Olympic Athletes looks like, but I don’t believe you can find very often so many athletes of such high calibre in one room, especially if that room is a school classroom or a children’s hospital ward!

Benjamin Limo and Sammy Wanjiru
at St John's Special School, Bedford

The athletes were very touched by the way the children and staff welcomed them in the various venues where they went (with Kenyan music, food, language, drawings and so on), but that’s s not all – I think the human contact with people who have achieved so much (more often than not, in spite of great challenges) helped children and even adults in the Borough understand they too can achieve amazing things, only if they put their mind to it! Moreover, this meant that an intercultural exchange happened – almost without realising – as the children of whole classrooms in Bedford learnt Kenyan songs, dance and culture; it automatically enhanced their knowledge and understanding of a different culture!

Athletes at St Gregory's Roman
Catholic Middle School, Bedford

What I loved about this project was not just the fact that people came together and carried something out by each contributing as they could, but also because David Brewer and Bedford Borough Council supported and empowered KCB to get the athletes to Bedford, they designed the programme of activities for the athletes with KCB’s input, but they did not take over and claim the project as their own.

Kenyan Athletes with
Bedford Mayor and colleagues

The hard results and real effects of such an initiative will certainly take time to show themselves, so then, why did they, both Bedford Borough Council and KCB want to bring those people to Bedford? Well, depending on whom you are asking, there are many possible answers to this question, but for me, one of the most important answers is: because bringing inspiration, breathing enthusiasm and helping shape goals of individuals within a community are some of the most important things one can do to help their society achieve success! Moreover, one of the things I found astounding (beyond the fact that these world athletes came to Bedford and gave their time for free) was the amount of positive spin offs a visit of this calibre had:

Wilfred Bungai, Paul Prescod (now

Cllr in Bedford) and Paul Tergat

• There is a real positive vibe about Bedford and the people living there now
• Community Champions such as Paul Prescod (see photo) have run for local elections and won (now Paul is a Bedford Borough Councillor)
• Friendships have been created, not only between the Olympic Athletes and the local community in Bedford, but also between people of various backgrounds in Bedford itself
• One of the girls who won the Rising Star Award at the Bedford Sports Awards 2010 is in direct contact with Benjamin Limo following the visit, getting advice and support on how to become a successful athlete
• Schools and hospitals in Bedford are now linked to schools and hospitals in Kenya and exchange information and good practice
• A small local charity (KCB) has become actively engaged in civic life in the borough and now the Council are more aware of the issues the community they represent faces
• People outside the Kenyan community became aware of Kenyan culture  as well as the issues and importance (especially for young black people) of having role models who come from black communities
• Kenyan Olympic Athletes have promised to stay briefly in Bedford to train once the Olympic Games have started
• Athletics Kenya signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bedford Borough Council to create a lasting legacy to foster social inclusion, sporting excellence and community development.

I would like end by pointing out five things – some of which, it seems to me, were rather crucial to the success of this initiative, which you can apply to every project:
1. Look at the resources within your group – what contacts your members/colleagues have (who knows who & who knows what)
2. Use those contacts to get in touch with strategic people/partners/stakeholders that are key to the success of your project (who could help you with this initiative?)
3. Learn your partners/stakeholders’ interests and goals – when contacting them, show them how THEY benefit from helping you (know the standpoint of the people whose support you need in order to achieve your goal)
4. Use the project as a platform to launch other things – you may discover through your project you raise awareness of something else, which could become the next project
5. Notice and write down the positive spin offs of your project – that is, the additional impact your project has which you did not even think of when you started, it could help you get further support or launch another project.