Comic Relief Funds New Common Purpose Challenge to Crowd Source Ideas for Manchester

Manchester, United Kingdom, February 23, 2016 (Newswire.com) - ​​​Common Purpose, a major global leadership development organization, is running an online crowd sourcing challenge in Manchester. The Common Purpose Challenge, which is funded by Comic Relief and also running in Bangalore, India, is asking residents of both cities to work together to generate new ideas that will make their city a better place to live and work.

Hosted online through Crowdicity, an innovative crowd sourcing platform, the Challenge  asks residents to comment, vote and generate ideas on all aspects of city life such as governance, environment, economy, technology, housing, sports and youth engagement. The aim is to empower citizens to develop real world solutions – big or small – that will solve existing problems in both Manchester and Bangalore.

​"All over the world there are cities that are changing and thriving - this energy is an opportunity to reignite civic engagement. But we need fresh ideas on how to make this happen; ways to show people just what an impact they can have on their city, if they decide to. That's why I'm so excited to be part of the Common Purpose Challenge, with Common Purpose and Comic Relief. It's what we need now; for our cities and our citizens."

David Puttnam, Academy Award winner

The winning ideas will be presented to a distinguished panel which includes Academy Award winner, David Puttnam, Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist, Diane Modahl, and Chief Executive of Manchester City Council, Sir Howard Bernstein.

The challenge aims to encourage healthy debate around important issues such as climate change, immigration and education at the city level. By promoting conversations about the role of cities and citizens, the Common Purpose Challenge hopes to instil participants with a greater understanding of how Manchester works and how that compares to other cities around the world, such as Bangalore.

In addition to the online aspect of the challenge, Common Purpose is hosting a free leadership workshop in Manchester on Monday 14th March. The workshop will allow participants to connect with expert speakers and work together to build and refine their ideas.

Sir Howard Bernstein, Chief Executive of Manchester City Council, reflecting on Manchester, said: “Manchester is a city which is growing. The population of the city is predicted to increase by another 50,000 over the next six years while the city centre is set to attract 40,000 new jobs, with an anticipated £5.5 billion increase in contribution to the national economy. So as cities gain more responsibility and power, it’s crucial that we understand how citizens can engage more meaningfully.” ​

Sir Howard Bernstein joins an exciting panel of leaders from both the UK and India who will review the winning ideas. The panel also includes David Puttnam, whose films have won ten Academy Awards, 25 Baftas and the Palme D'Or at Cannes and who also sits in the House of Lords; Diane Modahl, Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist and Founder and CEO of Diane Modahl Sports Foundation; James Sutcliffe, Chairman of Sun Life Financial; M.N Reddi, Director General of Police, Karnataka; Ved Sen, Head of Digital Consulting, Cognizant Business Consulting, UK and Vijay Padaki, Trustee of Bangalore Little Theatre.

The ideas will then be presented to decision makers in both Manchester and Bangalore who could help make them become a reality.

Judith McNeill, Grants Director, Comic Relief says: “Comic Relief is dedicated to supporting marginalised communities and helping to give them a stronger voice. The Common Purpose Challenge will enable people both at home in the UK and in India to play a central role in development and innovation in their communities, harnessing long-term positive change.”  

Common Purpose invites all citizens of Manchester to join us and work together to generate ideas that will improve our city.

https://challenge.commonpurpose.org/ ​

About Common Purpose

Common Purpose is a leadership development organization that specializes in cross-boundary leadership. A not-for-profit, they run programmes in over 70 cities worldwide. Founded in 1989, there are over 50,000 Common Purpose Alumni.

Common Purpose believes that the best leaders are able to lead across boundaries, and especially lead those with diverse perspectives—from different organizational functions, sectors, generations, geographies, cultures, faiths or beliefs.

As a result of this philosophy, they have teamed up with Comic Relief to help the citizens of Bangalore and Manchester join together to improve their cities.

commonpurpose.org / [email protected]

About Comic Relief

Comic Relief is a major charity based in the UK, with a vision of a just world, free from poverty. Comic Relief raise millions of pounds, mainly through two big fundraising campaigns; Red Nose Day and Sport Relief. The money raised tackles the root cause of poverty and social injustice in the UK and across the world.

About Crowdicity

Crowdicity is a cloud based enterprise and social idea management platform that helps drive innovation through collaboration. Clients such as United Nations, TEDx, LEGO, P&G, John Lewis, Deloitte, the NHS and the WWF all use Crowdicity's software to engage employees, partners and customers to address the unique challenges they face.

crowdicity.com