ABSTRACT
If full-engagement is to be achieved in deprived urban neighbourhoods, it is our contention that it is insufficient to use solely bottom-up initiatives. As revealed in the last chapter, even the most prominent social economy initiatives remain small-scale piecemeal projects that are alone currently incapable of helping people to help themselves on a broad scale and solving the problems of such neighbourhoods. Just as job creation necessitates topdown initiatives in order to be effective, the same is true of assisting self-help. Here, therefore, we present two alternative policy options that can be implemented from the top-down to both recognise and value work beyond employment and help people to help themselves and others. The first of these top-down initiatives is to extend the 'voluntary and community' sector of New Deal by giving the unemployed greater freedom to define the 'social contribution' that they wish to make. The second and more comprehensive option is to develop an Active Citizens' Credit (ACC) scheme. Each option is considered in turn.
