I attended a really inspiring meeting of my local voluntary sector forum this morning. We were talking about coproduction, the term for involving service users and their experiences in the design and commissioning of the services they need and want. This isn’t in itself a particularly new concept, but in these difficult financial times, when … Read more
“I wish they’d communicate directly with us and tell us what they’re doing,” said the volunteer in her high-vis jacket, desperately trying to co-ordinate the efforts to help the wretched residents of her village as they were flooded out of their homes. The ‘they’ in question were the Government and she was talking to the … Read more
One of the many places I go to work so that I’m not staring at the kitchen wall all day is my local library. It’s warm, quiet (except on nursery rhymes day and coffee mornings) and feels studious, which I find conducive to work. I have my favourite table to work at, tucked away in … Read more
Thank you to everyone who took a few minutes to complete my customer feedback survey late last year. The information you provided is really useful for informing the way in which I connect with current and future clients. I now know that: 88% of respondents heard about me and my work through a recommendation from … Read more
I’m currently in the middle of helping one of my clients to run focus groups with their employees and volunteers, which is a role I love. Being a facilitator and enabling the people in the group to articulate and present their views is really important. It’s great to be working with people who understand the … Read more
I hope that everyone has had an enjoyable festive season, whatever you have been doing. I have spent time with family and friends, laughed a lot, eaten a lot and generally recharged my batteries. Just what I hoped for, in fact. I shall be officially returning to my desk next week, but I’m already starting … Read more
Yesterday evening I was entranced once again by the latest episode of choir master Gareth Malone’s current show, The Choir. Ostensibly about Gareth’s drive to create workplace choirs at 5 different organisations across Britain, for me the show is really about communication and engagement. From the nursery rhymes Gareth asks them to sing at audition, … Read more
I recently became a trustee for a local literacy charity, ABC to read. We train volunteers to go into schools and work one to one with children who are struggling to read. Supporting them in this way builds their motivation to read and increases their confidence and life skills. It’s a genuine honour to be … Read more
I have just read a great article about writing long-hand, shared by the fantastic Zoe from Mascara for the Mind. In it, Lee Rourke describes how he and writers like him choose to write their novels out by hand in note-books rather than on computers or tablets. Reasons he gives include the noise of tapping … Read more
