Where do we go from here?
To help people learn new behaviours.
MyHomeTown wants to test its ideas in Wigan and then in Blackpool or in Coventry where it has other involvement. If successful, it wants to create a franchise model that other town centre vehicles like Business Improvement Districts can use to make their town centres more sustainable.
It would like to find a way to help Time Banks achieve their social objectives (possibly through community currencies), and ultimately it would like to create an affordable lending service to local businesses who need a trusted partner that is able to financially support them create new enterprises and to help them through tough times.
It would like to be able to create a localised pension fund for individuals to invest their monies into. Somewhere where grandparents could choose to invest their rewards for their grandchildren's future - safe in the knowledge that monies are invested in their home town where the costs and risks are on people's doorsteps.
MyHomeTown's ambition is to become a trusted bank that is locally owned by the people, for the people.
It is a system that complements the current taxation-based one and is designed to specifically and effectively tackle today's pressing issues - health, wealth and happiness. It wants to narrow the gap between rich and poor and it needs help in doing so.