It was the start of lent in the Orthodox calendar. Started the week with Clean Monday(Καθαρά Δευτέρα) - a day which combines looking forward to spring and a period of fasting. In practice it means lots of seafood and bread. But the wider traditions also symbolise asking for forgiveness and starting the lent period renewed with love. Not my ritual but these ebbs and flows of tradition can be useful in supporting reflection.
Finalised the survey for the community music venue. It’s live and they are getting some really thoughtful responses.
Cleaning up the research files from the recent review and handing it back over to the client.
The proposal from last week has been selected for an interview - now to prep a presentation, think about the additional questions they set. I also spoke with another research agency about supporting some new research/ reflections about apprenticeships. Let’s see what comes of that!
Organising topic guides and interview dates for the strategic review for the Voice of Domestic Workers. Next week is going to be full of interesting conversations!
Prepping, cleaning, packing to go home. 💚
Things I have been reading/ listening to
Some new research from the What Works Centre for Wellbeing on the links between the Levelling Up agenda and community wellbeing initiatives. They have four simple principles when designing new initiatives: build theories of change; map out the system; use the wealth of evidence available; and consider how inequalities manifest in that particular community context.
I readAll We Can Save, a beautiful anthology of women writers reflections on the climate crisis and what we can do some time ago. But the practical ideas for action is something I keep coming back to, particularly their venn diagram to help guide personal work. I need to do more work on my own plans and role in actively contributing to change.
4 March 2022
Things I did this week
Spent some time picking through the plans of a music venue for community engagement. They have bounds of enthusiasm and great ideas. I distilled it all into an organised spreadsheet 📇 Less joyful, but clearer and easier for them to crack on with
Report circulated and got some good feedback about how useful it was. PHEW! Now to tidy up the files and close.
Planning for an in-person workshop in the UK in a few weeks. I’m just assisting but looking forward to finally meeting people ⚡IN PERSON ⚡ that I have been working with for getting on for two years
Last weekend we went to the mountain. Didn’t fully switch off, but did breathe some cleaner air.
Tried to act in solidarity and send money to people helping in Ukraine.
Things I have been reading/ listening to
This briefing on the reinstatement of the Overseas Domestic Workers visa, produced as part of advocacy for the report stage of the Nationality and Borders Bill.
Twitter - trying to keep up with everything, failing, trying to be strategic in who and what I follow as there’s so much speed and noise and panic.
I just binged the new Marian Keyes audiobook.
24 February 2022
Things I did this week
Spoke with the partners from the Social Impact project in Sumy, Ukraine. Never have I felt my words were so useless, but it felt important to reach out in friendship and solidarity. Off the back, encouraged all my family to contact their MP to do what we have in our power in Britain to respond.
Report finished, I hope that it proves to be useful for people!
We wrote the proposal, did a lot of niggling about academic accessibility. Let’s see what comes of it.
Essay marking has begun, although I’m conscious of the UCU strike in the UK which I think moves to marking next week. I have been trying to make sure I don’t cross the (digital) picket line.
I swam at the weekend for the first time in a month and it was glorious (and freezing).
My friend had a book chapter published about the role of materiality in refugee camps. I haven’t read much anthropological work so took a while to get into it, but it’s fascinating. The whole book is open access online.
Chayn’s Creative Hope exhibition is beautiful - poetry and photography by survivors of gender-based violence from around the world.
17 February 2022
Things I did this week
I got feedback on the report I was worrying about last week. Some really constructive ideas about how to make it more succinct, and some questions that the reviewer felt were unanswered. I’m trying to respond to them all and make the report more focused. Tea is needed ☕
I drafted an evaluation for the training course that we ran in Ukraine in January for the Social Impact project. The first course was held online and it was good to see where we’d managed to make up for things that didn’t work there, and also how being in person really helped participants to bond. Now looking forward to seeing how each group has implemented their projects locally.
I had a great chat with the Director, Coordinator and a Trustee from The Voice of Domestic Workers (where I used to be a trustee) about how I can support them to develop their next strategy. Going to be using NEON’s excellent Organisational Strategy resource.
Planned a proposal with a partner - we have the skeleton, now it needs writing!
A music venue that I have been mentoring to develop their approach to understanding their impact on the community is ready for the next stage of work. We’re going to be planning (and they will deliver) some consultations to inform their Theory of Change.
Things I have been reading/ listening to
This short summary of a recent climate movement review in the UK has some interesting reflections on tactics - including what is not working (only targeting the government, online actions including letter writing....) As with the review I worked on with NEON a few years ago, it was interesting to read about how the “moral authority of young people” (e.g. through school strikes) is still cutting through, even if the power of XR in direct action is waning
The summary also reminded me that I still need to read the Framing Climate Justice resources...for next week! 🗓️
I’m flying through Empire of Pain - The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty. The way the family intertwined medicine, marketing and research is fascinating. As is the attitudes of those who feel they are exempt from the rules and processes that govern others.
11 February 2022
Things I did this week
Finishing a first draft of a report for a network I have worked with many times. I had to synthesise interviews from around 12 people on a politically messy and emotionally challenging topic. One where you feel like you should be doing SO MUCH MORE. It was a real slog and I am anxious to hear back from them about how they found it.
Started a new evaluation around professional supervision. First task was happily editing a baseline survey. It feels like a good partnership.
Rebuilding my website - my old one was big, clunky and felt like a part of me from when I was trying to remake myself as a freelancer.
Received this year’s batch of Masters essays to mark. Now to find some music to accompany them.... 🎵
Talking to partners about whether a new opportunity is worth exploring. It’s an interesting topic, a GREAT team of women and could be an interesting project for spring. But the process of applying always needs so much motivation, which is gone by the end of the week.
Greek class this week - all about housing. Spent a lot of time laughing at expensive and tasteless apartments (and learning the word for money laundering - ξέπλυμα χρήματος - to wash the money. A small commentary on the Athenian housing market, perhaps?)
Things I have been reading/ listening to
Christine Berry was thoughtful as ever on what can be learned from Manchester on trying to reduce inequality. The government is still singing from a hymn sheet which has been discredited. I remember going to a regeneration training course over 9 months in 2008/9 with people who had been involved in long term regeneration schemes. Sure, there had been some employment and fancy new buildings. But the structural problems were ever present. There might be some winners, but there’s a lot of people for whom things didn’t really get better.
This thread on how language comes from how we conceptualise/ understand things, and what that means in terms of disability in the Anishinaabe community. In short, the way the community is organised is that everyone can contribute, so the chance of “otherness” is not there.
Again on perceptions, this article on housing had some good points around how we can have wildly different ideas about what things cost, and how what’s happening around us affect how we perceive our opportunities and contributions to our own outcomes.
I’ve been (re)listening to the audiobook of Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes, in anticipation of the sequel. Such a brilliant portrayal of addiction. And I appreciatedthis interview where she explained why she always ends with a happy story. That’s what I want to listen to right now!
