I met someone today who is as passionate about their town as I am about mine. It may seem strange to be passionate about your town but tell that to any person in a northern town today after a ‘think tank’ branded them beyond revival.

The problem with so many areas, especially a London over-spill town like Basingstoke, is that they either have no identity, or it has been eroded away over time. Some towns have their heritage as a base - like Winchester - but how do you tackle getting people to have pride in a town like Basingstoke which is well known for…. roundabouts?

The thing, is, not every girl can grow up to be the prom queen and not every boy will be David Beckham. For every town like Stratfield-Upon-Avon, there are ten Basingstokes and Runcorns.

But… I have a theory for all those places that don’t have a legacy to build upon. I’m no sociologist but I think pride revolves around having something to be proud of, something successful that people can attach themselves to and at the centre of that pride is popular arts (such as music and film) and sports.

Compare Manchester in the mid eighties to now. Regeneration off the back of a world successful football brand, the Commonwealth Games and some of best bands of the past twenty years. Am I missing something?

Both Aristotle and Plato saw the negative effects of musi, and perhaps they were right in terms of society in general, but the point is that these things DO have an effect and, in terms of civic pride and being able to capture the imaginations of the citizens of a town, they can be leveraged.

So. My idea. Invest in talent - musicians, bands, actors, potential sports stars. Invite the people to your local events that will get maximum profile. Case in point: Last year, Basingstoke Live had Chesney Hawkes headlining. This year it was Chas N’ Dave. What if they spent an extra £10-20k to get someone really big? How much profile would that buy?

Encourage local teams to be successful, especially football teams. Get them known nationally and internationally - help them gain profile by giving them marketing support and encourage them to link back to your town.

As you can tell from my rant I am passionate about this. I am also naive into the ways and workings of the organisations and commitees involved in civic pride incentives. But, show me any passionate pioneer- such as an inventor, an entrepreneur; even a world record holding athlete - who didn’t also show some naivety in their goals and I will crawl back under my stone and lose my pride in a silent fashion, never to rant again.