Building a Palace for People: Alexandra Palace

Ally Pally 360 sm screen.jpg

My dream is to uncover the full potential of Alexandra Palace. I have been dreaming this fairly solidly for about 20 months and during that time I have been talking to lots of people with far greater skills and experience than I have about how this dream can become reality. I have now built a very capable team of potential collaborators who are all intrigued by the dream and think it's a fantastic idea. Now the challenge for me is to build upon it.

So, I was advised by Anke Holst to start a blog. She is a social media guru and her advice really hit home. I think in many ways I have been uncomfortable with this dream because it is so big and I am so small and I haven't felt that I can have a voice amongst it. I have been hoping for someone bigger than me to pave the way but I realise this is not the answer. A story needs to be told and it is the story of my thoughts about this project and my voice is the only thing that will carry that.

My overall vision emerged when I was working at the Scarman Trust, advising and supporting grass roots groups and watching people's ideas grow from inception to realisation. It was here that I recognised how important space was for all of these emerging ideas; shared space that can be used by people to meet each other and get an idea off the ground. My sights then turned again to Ally Pally with this in mind and I saw immense potential for society to grow its ideas there, lots of ideas.

We are all heading into the fog of uncertain times and as our external realities become less clear there is a greater need for each of us to carry a really good torch or better still, identify our local lighthouse so that we can still see where we are heading.

When people used to ask me what I wanted to do with Ally Pally I would say "Well, I see that building as a potential microcosm of a better world" and I would often get a blank response and need to clarify: I think society needs to evolve quite rapidly and I think that the best way to learn about how to evolve is through experience first hand so if we have more places and events that not only speak of being the change but already are the change we want to see in the world then it becomes easier to live the changes in our own lives.

I also think that part of this evolution will see us taking back a lot of responsibility for ourselves. Transition Towns, Climate Camp, the Campaign for Real Democracy Harringay Online and Space Makers are just a few of the newest examples of people connecting people at the local level in order to get things done.

I think we are capable and can be responsible for our future it's just something we are not used to doing. So, in rebuilding a Palace for People I think it imperative that we accept this responsibility together. It is no longer the age of expecting the mysterious and elusive group we call 'Them" or "They" to do something for us. This is the age of We The People. We know who we are and I think the time is ripe for a change of focus that gives us all the inspiration to lift ourselves individually and then help each other collectively onto the next rung of the evolutionary ladder.

http://sallyallypally.wordpress.com/