As we close in on the final couple of weeks celebrating our 30th anniversary during 2025, we’re revisiting three themes from our story about three decades of deep social change:
- Strengthening democracy
- Building solidarity across divides
- Collaborating to change public service systems.
In focus this week is strengthening democracy and our long-held belief that this matters—now more than ever when its urgency and importance dominates our thoughts and headlines daily.
Never far from these thoughts is our start to 2025 with an unexpected fight to save voluntary sector support for people with learning disabilities in our city from a 45 per cent funding cut.
Fortunately, we were victorious in ensuring these vital resources were retained for Coventry people. But the speed and intensity at which we had to mobilise the campaign to prevent these proposed cuts—and what this took—will live long in Grapevine’s memory as the most serious, urgent threat we’ve faced in 30 years of helping people who are left out realise their potential, seize opportunities and meet their personal challenges.
In a recent interview with national community organising training organisation Act Build Change, our CEO Clare Wightman recalls the three-week timeline and the resulting need to switch our usual tactics from highlighting people’s assets to drawing attention to their vulnerabilities.
Clare said: “We needed to have an effective narrative… to portray our work, what the proposed cut was and the impact it would have in a way that was easy to understand.
“We were using the narrative really early on—sharing stories of the issues and situations people were facing and what it would mean to them and their wellbeing to have it removed.”
Delivering a reality check for decision-makers on their perception of “low-level needs” as being quite the opposite was high on the list of priorities.
Our deputy CEO Mel Smith shared: “We needed to emphasise that the people we support aren’t low-need but that the threshold for state support is too high and that removing the support we provide would plunge people into crisis.
“We work with people who are experiencing exploitation, hate crime, domestic abuse, historic sexual assault, revenge porn, addiction, social anxiety and mental health crises. These aren’t things that can be managed alone.”
The campaign to lobby local decision-makers to stop the cut included:
- Understanding the processes of the local authority and lobbying those in positional power
- Supporting those most affected by the cut to have their voices heard—for example knowing how to find and speak with their ward councillor and how to deliver an effective message
- Mobilising as many people with learning disabilities, their families and allies as possible to show up for the public consultation
- Taking protest action to the steps of the council house during its consultation meeting
- Engaging local media to spread the story far and wide, garnering further public support.
Mel concludes: “Charities and third-sector organisations are so reluctant to stand up against budget cuts and injustice. It’s the norm to accept these conditions rather than challenging the power systems that create them.
“Even if we weren’t the recipients of the grant, we would organise to protect it because it’s so vital for the people of Coventry.”
Our cuts campaign experience serves to remind us that asserting our democratic rights and helping others do the same—particularly those traditionally left out of conversations—is fundamental to building fairer futures and stronger communities.