HOW often do you hear people moan about something and then say "They really should have done something about it"?
Well, here's a chance for everyone who has ever said or thought this to get involved in a project to help shape the future of the town.
For the last few months, a small team of people have been trying to draw up a list of delegates to take part in Hands on Harborough.
It's not easy getting people to agree to give up 16 hours of their precious time – the evening of Thursday, March 8, all day Friday, March 9, and the morning of Saturday, March 10 – but things are beginning to take shape.
But the whole idea of the event is that the whole town is represented, not just 'them', not just the people who turn up time and again to take part in events.
Many of the town's residents may have perhaps never been involved in this way before, but are enthusiastic and committed to its future. And there is still time for them to get involved.
The organisers want to reflect the town's diversity, so that means inviting everyone from new arrivals to the town from abroad, to people who have lived here all their lives – it means inviting the young as well as the elderly.
There's no set agenda for the event – anything and everything is up for discussion. So if you have a passion about something that you think should happen or change in Harborough, this is your chance to get the ball rolling.
And if you can't take part in person, but have any suggestions about issues which you think should be discussed, the organisers would like to hear from you. Let's face it, you'll never be able to say "They really should have done something" again – only "I should have".

||3||Why three days?||2||
HANDS on Harborough has been initiated by Harborough Improvement Team, but the event is being 'facilitated' by a professional company, Vista, which is giving its
services for free and uses a method called Future Search.
One of the places which has been through the process with Vista is Upper Tean near Stoke-on-Trent, where 60
people met in 2002.
On the first evening participants were asked what Tean had meant to them in the past and what significant events had taken place in the world. These were put together to see, for example, how technology and transport had affected the
village. Delegates then produced a 'mind map' of current concerns and each person voted on the ten most significant concerns.
On the second session, the full day, the conference met in 'stakeholder' groups to highlight significant positive and negative trends. The 'stakeholder' groups planned for Harborough are youth, councils, leisure, community safety, business, community development, health and well being, residents and villages, and education. In the afternoon people were asked to dream of how the village could be in the future.
The final morning concentrated on listing common ground from all that was wanted for the future and three groups were formed to look at specific projects, such as new shops and housing.
Cllr Sarah Hill, who is chairing the Hands on Harborough organising committee, said: "One condition of success is to work across three days to give 'soak time' to all
participants to take in everything that happens. It's quite a time commitment but it's also a great chance to make a difference."

||1||Consensus crucial to success||0||
PART of the aim of Hands on Harborough is that whatever projects are decided upon have been chosen by the people rather than being imposed upon them.
Syston, in north Leicestershire, has been through a similar process over the last four years.
County councillor Dave Houseman, who chairs Syston social, economic and environmental regeneration partnership, says it is now leading to concrete achievements, which are backed by the majority of the population.
A cross-section of people were brought together for several meetings and a questionnaire was sent out to the town's 4,500 dwellings.
With an action plan drawn up, the town is now in a position to apply for grants which become available in the knowledge that problems have been ironed out.
One of the smaller schemes suggested was to make the signs at the entrances to the town more attractive. A competition was held by Syston History Society, the winning design was chosen, funding was found and two of the signs are now in place.
Cllr Houseman said: "It all comes from finding out what people would like rather than telling them what they'd like.
"You need a very broad consensus. You need to be in a position to take advantage of pots of gold in the form of grants that are available by having fully costed projects to submit, where any problems have been sorted out.
"Some of our projects will take 20 years, but some are already being implemented. Now we've got to the exciting stage and it really is rewarding."