We often use the idea of leaky buckets to get people talking about how money flows through (or leaks out) of areas. This idea comes from the new economics foundation (nef).
The amount of money flowing through every town, city and village is more than most of us can imagine. Around £1,500 billion (or £1.5 trillion) flows through the UK every year.
But Big Local areas tend to benefit less than other areas from the money flowing through them because much of it leaks out as quickly as it enters. So one thing Big Local can do is share knowledge about why money sticks more in some communities than others and how Big Local can be used to change this. That’s why at events we’ve handed out drawings of leaky buckets and asked people to think about how money flows in, where it leaks out, and how the leaks can be plugged. These discussions help people understand more about their local economy.
This exercise is useful in two ways. Firstly, leaky bucket discussions help people to think about money flowing which relates to everyone. It generates discussions about the wages people bring home from their employers, the takings brought in by local businesses, money spent on new construction, and people buying property. Then it gets everyone thinking about ways money leaks out – residents spending their wages paying landlords who live elsewhere, paying bills to national utility companies, spending money in shops which are part of large national or global chains. And finally the discussion turns to plugging the leaks – having more shops and businesses which are owned by people locally, drawing people from outside to come in and spend money in the area, helping local traders win more business and bringing money in.
The second way in which these discussions are useful is that people in Big Local areas start thinking more about relationships they can build with local businesses and the influence businesses and traders have. For example at the sticky money event the chair of Bountagu Big Local talked about how he hopes to get the local pub more involved with supporting Big Local because for many people the pub is the community hub and the couple who run it are key influencers.
You can read more about this topic and learning from the sticky money learning event on our website.
Why don't you draw your own leaky bucket and start a discussion in your area about the money coming in, the money flowing out and how to plug the leaks!