As the economic harm caused by lockdown becomes ever more apparent, experts in on major city are working on ways to get businesses and the community firing on all cylinders again.
A list of 30 ideas to get Leicester fighting fit has been drawn up by academics, experts and local government officials.
And business leaders, trainers, workers and other individuals are being invited to put forward their own ideas, big and small, to help the city recover from the impact of coronavirus.
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Over the past three months thousands of city businesses have been shut or working under the limits of lockdown for months.
It is feared many will never reopen.
Elsewhere thousands of redundancies are now being announced as companies deal with contraction.
Meanwhile political leaders expect public finances to take a hit of up to £40 million as council spending has spiralled while income has plummeted.
Ideas to kickstart the economy and community include a Leicester Covid-19 Bond – so people can invest in their city’s recovery – encouragement for businesses to give staff paid time off to volunteer on recovery projects, changes in the benefits system to help people retrain and opening public buildings for those unable to work from home or go back into the office.
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30 (early) ideas for a better Leicester
- Rethink spaces for outdoor learning opportunities, forest schools, open air classrooms
- Pop-up health screenings, using professionals supported by student volunteers so people can get basic health checks, avoiding pressure on the NHS
- A citywide network of businesses committed to giving staff paid time off to volunteer on recovery projects to build back better
- Evaluate changes in the benefits system to understand what help people will need and train dedicated teams to help people apply
- A community support network so the council can ramp up its public health capability to deal with the predicted increase in need for social care
- A Leicester (Covid-19) Bond which is available for people to buy and raise money towards the city’s recovery - similar to those issued after the First World War
- Not everyone has a home big enough for home working, study space or quiet time. Could public buildings be reimagined for work use and redesigned in line with social distancing guidance?
- Develop supply chains so businesses buy from local companies, ensuring money is spent in the city and county, creating a circular economy
- Tackle the digital divide by creating hubs in libraries and local centres that offer free wifi
- A city centre one-stop shop dedicated to repurposing disused IT equipment and offering free training to groups isolated by the rise of technology
- A bank of old computer equipment to be repurposed for those who cannot afford their own, hired out or offered at cost
- Empower more young people to become entrepreneurs by giving them access to business mentors, coaching and development in trading and finance
- Pop-up incubators – retail or industrial space to create a workspace for teen/young/excluded entrepreneurs to develop social/business ideas
- Businesses, entrepreneurs, SMEs to feed into a huge survey outlining what extra training they think staff will need in the future
- Online courses to help upskill staff and tailored coaching for specific issues
- Find new ways to connect young people with work, through businesses increasing the offer of apprenticeships, training, work experience and mentoring
- Pop-up business units across the city estates offering low rents to business start-ups
- Identify new ways to work with the most marginalised, like the homeless, to enable them to enter mainstream society, training and employment
- A Made in Leicester campaign to focus on manufacturing goods in the city, with branding and marketing
- Encourage larger, well-established manufacturers to ally with small to medium-sized businesses with a view to expanding their customer base and increasing employment
- A concerted campaign to address individual and community mental health by uniting groups to work together
- Utilise community organisations to take the lead in creating hubs for support with health, jobs, food, social, youth, community safety and adult education
- A central hub for food banks to improve collection, storage, transport and distribution
- Rethink debt advice and access to credit to ensure the poorest are not punished by existing systems
- Co-create projects with communities to find ways tackle the underlying causes of poverty in Leicester, not just create responses like more food banks
- Focus recovery in Leicester’s poorest communities through projects with residents in those wards, not just the city centre
- Investigating ways to improve the food chain by helping smaller farms to create eco-hubs, reducing food miles and improving quality
- Boosting biodiversity by using green roofs and green walls – incentivising developers to include these, increasing the amount of green space
- Regular car-free days in parts of the city to maintain better air quality in high-traffic areas
- Rolling out a successful trial run in Leicester which saw elderly people given an app to remotely track their movements. The app, which loved ones also have access to, allows people to retain independence but allow family to quickly detect any changes in routines
De Montfort University’s public engagement team, DMU Local, is now appealing for people and neighbourhood groups to work with them on more ideas.
DMU and Leicester City Council are working with healthcare organisations, businesses and the emergency services to identify problems and potential short, medium and long-term solutions.
More than 70 academic experts in economics, business, the arts, technology and healthcare have been assessing the impact that the virus has had on Leicester in five key areas – health, environment, the economy, communities and infrastructure.
They have run consultations with more than 40 community groups and organisations, hearing from neighbourhoods how the pandemic has affected residents, businesses, schools with more to come.
Based on what it has heard so far it has published an initial 30 ideas to help the city on the road to recovery.
Acting vice-chancellor Professor Andy Collop said: “Everyone is working together to ensure Leicester can make the strongest possible recovery.
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“DMU is full of people with the time, skills and expertise to play a role in helping Leicester emerge from this crisis as a stronger, more connected city.
“I hope we can be of real, practical benefit to people, businesses and organisations across Leicester now and in the aftermath of the pandemic.”
City council assistant mayor for neighbourhoods Councillor Kirk Master said: “DMU has been working closely with the council via the city mayor’s office on Leicester’s recovery plan going forward.”