On 26 April, Wendy and Rebecca hosted a session attended by 19 people involved in a range of different health, community and arts projects in Southampton. The people attending were from a range of types of organisations, including charities and community groups, local authority, NHS Trusts and University of Southampton.
CHECK IN AND AVATAR MAKING
When people signed up to the event, we asked if there was anything that would make them feel welcome and comfortable. We had been told that, at the beginning, it can feel a bit challenging to go around the room giving introductions. Was there was another way to get people feeling comfortable to speak at the start? So, with the help of Anna Carr, we designed a session that involved sitting in smaller groups at the start (rather than a big circle).
We asked people to share what their weather was today, then creating their own “avatars” using printed cartoon images. People shared something that they loved and something that they were driven by. This was a way of trying to start with a sense of us all being human, rather than our role or the loudness of our voices being dominant. Thanks Anna for helping us with this part of the session!
DESIGN FOR WISER ACTION
The main part of this session explored the use of Design for Wiser Action as a process. People had been given the chance to bring a project idea to the table, in order to design a project together and capture it on a “project design sheet” (see picture).
In summary, the process involve:
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A project design sheet using Design for Wiser Action approaches a person (called a “project giver”) introducing their project idea;
- then people around the table ask questions, without giving advice;
- after that time, all the people other than the project-giver talk together about the project, whilst the project-giver listens;
- finally, the team around the table capture the ideas that have developed, fixing them onto the project design sheet.
This is done on a large piece of paper, so everyone can see what is agreed.
PROJECTS IN DEVELOPMENT
These are the projects that we explored as part of the process:
Soul of Southampton Anna hosted a session on a project about “Positive News Southampton”, as a response to the sense that there isn’t enough pride in our city. The project evolved during the conversation to be called “Soul of Southampton” with a focus on positive, celebratory stories with a call to action. It would help address mental health, raise aspirations, pride, history and take care of each other.
Unpaid carers and neurodiversity Debbie hosted a session about unpaid carers and neurodiversity. During the course of the conversations, we learnt about other projects that are already happening, including a group at Southern Health NHS Trust. The vision was expressed as enabling unpaid carers to support loved ones and be upskilled to support themselves and each other. Carers would feel valued and be able to connect with a pathway of practical care. Issues discussed including reaching out, considering the environment, such as lighting, and being accessible.
Calm spaces at community events Ling introduced this project, which has an aspiration of making events inclusive and accessible for all. Through the provision of calm spaces, people can get involved in events irrespective of their condition or disability. Through the discussion, a need was identified to gather more evidence and look at what practices occur already and embed this sort of activity into Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion guidelines/procedures.
Holyrood estate volunteers (Gardeneers) This project discussion was hosted by Lynda and is about building a community of regular volunteers to help water and maintain the outside spaces in the Holyrood estate for residents. Through the discussion, a number of ways of supporting this project were identified, including a vision to reinstate the residents association. They will also look at changing the time of people getting involved in the Gardeneers and reaching out more via social media.
If you are interested in any of these projects, please get in touch with so we can point you in the right direction.
REFLECTION ON THE PROCESS
At the end of the session, before we broke for our shared lunch, we had a discussion as a whole room about what we thought of the process. This is what people said:
- We identified a need for clearer info on timings for each part of the discussion process.
- It would be useful for the “project-giver” to have someone to support them to scribe. It’s quite a lot for them to talk about their project as well as capture the ideas and thoughts around the table.
- It was recognised that the “project-giver” is giving a lot of themselves and could feel quite vulnerable having their ideas scrutinised. All credit was given to those that put themselves forward to trial their ideas.
- People said they found it quite challenging not going straight into “problem solving mode” but had to start their session asking questions rather than giving views. They were challenged to listen and understand rather than go straight into a reply or sharing of their own thoughts. It was important that people knew that they would have a chance to share their views later on in the process.
- People liked the questions on the project design sheet as a basis for discussion about the projects.
We are asking people for more reflections on this session from people who came along, so check back here again for an update, or get in touch.
Rebecca Kinge
Southampton Voluntary Services