Biography

Hello. I am Paul Regan and am now semi-retired. I am however able to give one or two days a week to consultancy assignments and am in touch with a range of other consultants working in the UK.

I was educated at Bristol Grammar School and went on to study philosophy at University College London. I then trained as a Methodist Minister, studying theology at Richmond College in Surrey. I was ordained in 1967 and served in Nottingham, Burton on Trent and then East Ham. I was given permission by the Methodist Church in 1977 to serve as a sector minister managing The Renewal Programme and subsequently Aston-Mansfield.

I have an interest in how organisational systems work and have been influenced by the Tavistock Institute approach to managing open systems. My first collaboration with the Institute was with Dr Eric Miller who provided consultancy for the development of Conflict and Change over a three year period from 1983 to 1986. See the Tavistock Occasional Paper No.9 "Conflict and Reconciliation - The Newham Experiment".

I also have an interest in Broad Based Community Organising which engages people in non partisan grass roots politics. London Citizens has a very diverse range of institutions in membership - Churches, Mosques, Schools, Synagogues, Trades Unions, Universities and Voluntary Agencies. These mediating institutions come together in a diverse permanent alliance to campaign for a range of changes for the common good. A major campaign has been for a Living Wage for London. The Mayor of London and GLA economics produce an annual report showing how they calculate the hourly rate. In 2011 we launched the Living Wage Foundation. Outside London the Living Wage rate is calculated by the Minimum Income Standard group at Loughborough University, supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. London Citizens is active in East London, South London and West London and since 2011 in North London. I am also vice-chair of Citizens UK which promotes Broad Based Organising and trains professional community organisers in the UK, Ireland and Europe.