For anyone who still doesn’t know what David Cameron’s Big Society means, then watch closely what is happening in Windsor and Maidenhead as the council may launch a scheme where its citizens can earn Big Society reward points redeemable in supermarkets, shops or restaurants, in exchange for volunteering time.
Some of the tasks it would reward could include fishing out trolleys from canals, litter picking, looking after elderly neighbours and planting trees. It is planned to operate in a similar fashion to supermarket loyalty points, though it is not clear how many rewards would be given for different jobs.
Windsor and Maidenhead council hopes to join forces with a commercial rewards scheme such as Nectar – whose points can be redeemed in Sainsbury’s, Homebase and Argos among others – or RecycleBank, whose vouchers can be spent in outlets including Marks & Spencer and McDonald’s.
I hope this is a win-win scheme as in theory it sounds very positive. My only question is whether the third sector which relies heavily on volunteers is invited to participate in it too. Will those volunteers who plug the huge gap which government funding cannot meet also be rewarded with loyalty points redeemable at their local supermarket?
Sounds great but who is paying? The tax payer? Supermarkets aren’t charities and I’d like to know what’s gone on behind the scenes.
Good question Pip. One of the Guardian links highlighted in the post says: “The points would be given free by the commercial partner in return for the publicity and marketing opportunities, with the local authority picking up the relatively small cost of administering the scheme.”
This sort of thing needs a lot more publicity than it has received.
What a brilliant idea! I’ll see if I can get my council to do it.
And it means giving the vote to prisoners…
WW, yes, votes to prisoners. Did you see that vile video with John Hirst?