📣 A Rallying Cry for Plymouth
Ten years ago today, I happened to be walking across Armada Way in front of the Guildhall at just the right moment to capture the St. George’s flag being raised in celebration of our national saint’s day.
Whether as English or Janners, we don’t do a great job of communal identity in the same way as the Welsh, Irish, or Scottish, even.
But when you see a sight like this and look beyond the mob appropriation of the St. George’s flag, it’s difficult not to have a sense of civic pride.
🏴 St George’s Day
Now before we go any further and I subject myself to a potential barrage of abuse and corrections.
I am aware that today, Wednesday, 23 April 2025, is not St. George’s Day this year and that due to an ecclesiastical quirk that involves Easter it’s been postponed to next Monday
BUT
My point is this.
On this day ten years ago it was St George’s Day.
And on that day, I came into Plymouth for a Chamber of Commerce breakfast and obviously felt a strong enough sense of civic pride to not only take the photo but to post it to Facebook.
I also posted a photo taken from the bus as we crossed the Tamar Bridge. I don’t know about you but I absolutely love that view and consider myself fortunate to see it on a regualr basis.
🗺 Plymouth Plan
What I should have posted, perhaps, was this slide outlining the 10-year Plymouth Plan presented by a representative of Plymouth City Council
In the light of yesterday’s post it’s interesting to zoom in on some of the predictions.
It’s tough to see the details but
We are not yet a city of 300,000 population. In fact, according to the minutes from a 2023 meeting of the Plymouth Health and Wellbeing Board, Plymouth had a population of 264,700 people, with projections indicating that this figure would increase to 273,300 by 2043.
We’re WAY short of that goal to have “Virtually nil households in fuel poverty” with a whopping 18.4% in the Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport ward at last count, half as much again as the national average and nealy double the South West average according to National Energy Action We fare much better in Plymouth Moor View but only a fuel (or a fraud) would have been so rash as to propose such an audacious figure without evidence to back it up.
The other figure highlighted in yellow is a regular journey time of 2 hours and 15 minutes to London. I’ve no idea how this can be achieved without flying and we all know the long-running saga of Plymouth airport. I’ve been delayed for longer than that on rail journeys to London, and typically, the quickest rail journey is 3 hours and 1 minute.
I can’t be sure about the hope that we would have “NIL children leaving school without being able to read or write” but I do know that according to Data Plymouth “Educational standards over recent years in Plymouth have shown some variation. However, in general, attainment has been below average at all key stages, and by the end of KS4 (GCSE), results remain below the national average in terms of both attainment and progress”.
7242 new affordable homes - I can’t tell you the figures from 2015 to 2025 but I do know from Plymouth City Council’s own report that in the ten years from 2013 - 2023 the Plan for Homes Programme delivered 7,581 homes which sounds great until you discover that only 1,980 were provided as affordable homes, so 27% of the target figures
I could go on, but you get the point. Statements like these are meaningless at best without context and clarity, and at worst, they are meaningless and deceitful.
What’s worse is that we elect our council on the basis of figures like this and then do nothing about it when the council fails to deliver on their promises.
❓What’s the answer?
Well one thing’s for sure.
It’s not to keep doing what we’ve always done, hoping for a different result.
If we genuinely want Plymouth to succeed as a city and for its residents to be happy, healthy, and prosperous people, we need to make radical changes to the way we approach the problems we face.
That might include electing a mayor, a democratically elected leader, rather than one chosen simply because they happen to be leading the party in power in any given year.
It might involve merely holding our current leaders to a higher standard of accountability.
Or
It could start with YOU
There’s an expression I love
“Be the change you want to see in the world”
Typically attributed to Mahatma Gandhi it essentially means that to create a desired change, individuals should first make those changes in their own lives and character.
YOU/WE need to change
And I think that one of th places we can start to do that is with a sense of Civic Pride and love for the city and each other.
Not the kind of pride that merely involves nostalgia or slogans or painting everything red, white and blue, but how we show up for our communities, how we talk about our city, how we support the people, places and possibilities right on our doorstep.
🌊 So Where’s the Love?
Let’s be honest: if you only judged Plymouth by the headlines, you’d miss 90% of the good stuff.
We don’t always tell our own story very well. The loudest voices aren’t always the most representative. And most of us are too busy doing the work to shout about it.
That’s where WOW Plymouth comes in.
We’re here to flip the narrative.
To highlight the energy, the effort, the excellence.
To celebrate the doers, the dreamers, the grafters, and the givers.
🌼 A City Once Proud
Growing up in Plymouth in the 1970s, the city felt different. Not just in how it looked — though it did look different, cleaner, better kept, more loved — but in the way people carried themselves, and how they treated each other.
I remember the floral displays outside the Civic Centre. Tulips in spring, geraniums in summer. Beds planted and cared for with intention. The city centre sparkled. Pavements were swept. Grass verges were tidy. Trees were pruned.
There was care. There was pride.
We didn’t have much, but we took pride in what we did have. There was a sense of community — neighbours knew neighbours. Local businesses were run by familiar faces. You felt safe. You felt seen. And you felt part of something bigger.
🔦 There's Still Hope
Here’s the thing though: that pride hasn’t disappeared. It’s just gone underground.
You see it in the grassroots projects lighting up the city from the ground up:
People like:
Nudge Community Builders, transforming derelict buildings on Union Street into thriving community spaces and creative hubs.
Plymouth Octopus Project, connecting volunteers, changemakers, and community organisations doing incredible work across the city.
Independent cafés, social enterprises, artists, and doers putting love and energy into local life every single day.
And now — through WOW Plymouth — we’re trying to join them. To tell better stories. To spotlight the pride, the people, the progress.
🛠️ How Do We Rebuild Civic Pride?
It’s not about bunting or slogans. It’s about daily choices. Here are a few ways we — as individuals and as a city — can start reclaiming that feeling:
Speak Well of the City – Watch your language. If we constantly talk Plymouth down, how can we expect others to lift it up?
Support Local – Shops, cafés, makers, events. Your pounds make a difference.
Join In – Volunteer. Attend a local meeting. Help out with a litter pick. Civic pride is built by showing up.
Celebrate Small Wins – Share good news. Uplift each other. Be generous with praise.
Beautify the Basics – A planted window box. A swept pavement. It all counts.
Back Independent Media – Support platforms like WOW Plymouth that are trying to tell the full story, not just the sensational headlines.
❤️ Because Plymouth Deserves Better
We’re not perfect. No city is. But Plymouth is still a place of extraordinary potential.
We’ve got the coast. The moors. The views. The history. The grit. The humour. The heart.
Let’s start acting like it.
Let’s remind ourselves — and each other — that this city is worth believing in.
And maybe, just maybe, that quiet moment on St George’s Day ten years ago wasn’t just a memory. Maybe it was a signal. A call to raise the flag again — not just on the pole, but in our hearts.
Here’s to pride. Here’s to Plymouth. Here’s to a Brighter Future
🤝 Join Us
If you really believe that Plymouth Deserves Better then join the movement. Subscribe to WOW Plymouth, share the good news, and let’s start something special together. 👉 wowplymouth.substack.com