A launch event on Saturday April 17 in central London inaugurates Civic Voice as a new organization to campaign nationally on behalf of local groups such as ours. It will be more “light-footed” than its predecessor, the Civic Trust, which closed a year ago when funds ran out.

  Newly elected as its first chairmn is Paula Ridley of Merseyside, the former head of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

  “A powerful voice promoting civic pride is needed now more than ever before,” says the Civic Voice leaflet. The new charity intends to “speak out in the media, undertake research, build partnerships and promote civic pride. We support local groups and help them work together ... campaigning for the places where everyone lives to be more attractive, enjoyable and distinctive.”

  The Prince of Wales spoke out in support of Civic Voice, and Griff Rhys Jones, the comedy actor, is one of its spokesmen.

  It aims for financial independence through a growing membership from local groups. A hundred groups in all parts of Britain have joined Civic Voice so far (its interim name was Civic Society Initiative).

  The Glastonbury Conservation Society committee decided not to join for the time being because the cost per member is much higher than the late Civic Trust (of which we were a member) while the insurance coverage (one of the benefits of membership, for work such as tree-planting) is lower.

  Campaigns already under way:

• Love Local is a survey in words and photos of “what is attractive, enjoyable and distinctive about where we live and what makes us proud to be there”. The results will be used in the launch event.

• Street Pride aims to “rid our streets of unnecessary clutter to create streets we can be proud of”. A campaign pack can be downloaded from streetpride.org.uk, and a series of regional workshops (£5) comes to Winchester on May 22 — any Consoc member want to go along?

Wessex Muster — for 11 likeminded societies near us

A first get-together of civic societies in this region was judged a success. The host for the Wessex Muster on March 6 was the Midsomer Norton Society. “Very few of those present had ever met each other before today,” said Paul Myers, the organizer.

  Thirty delegates represented 11 civic societies. John Peverley, of Frome, gave a case study on his town’s experience of the new Local Listing scheme, and a workshop entitled “How to promote your group” gave insight into how diverse the various approaches of civic societies are.

  The next gathering is to be in June.