Interning with Connecting For Good: Bel’s reflections and learning.
This blog has been written by Bel Govier.
This June, I went straight from studying for my Economics and Global Sustainable Development exams at Warwick to jumping head first into Grapevine’s community organising project, Connecting For Good (CFG). I had never even heard about community organising before applying for this internship, and I could not have predicted the extent to which I would be impacted by my time with the CFG team and Coventry residents.
The internship had 2 components; half the time I was working with social media, the other half I was shadowing the CFG team and learning about community organising. The bulk of the social media work I did was for the Cov Cares project, a movement looking to generate more connection and belonging in and between businesses in Coventry, which began after the community was consulted on where they felt the most embraced in the city. I worked on posts for the Instagram account, highlighting each business and organisation that was nominated, sharing the best stories. I remember how the LTB Showrooms, for example, were described as an unpretentious space where artists could come to showcase and appreciate art. I was able to understand these comments when I visited the Cov Cares nominees to capture the spaces on camera and interview the employees. At the LTB Showrooms, I felt like there was so much vulnerability, comfort and acceptance, maybe because it is a community-led and built space where anyone can share their art.
The first time I visited Coventry was two years ago, and my strongest impressions of it were from how uncomfortably quiet the city centre gets in the evenings and how I almost got mugged once while waiting for a bus. Now that Coventry’s gems are not hidden to me anymore, they seem to be everywhere I go. I am very thankful that I had this opportunity to have my mind changed and I am looking forward to living in Coventry next year.
Shadowing the CFG team in their daily work added to the warmth I now feel for Coventry. I followed Gemma, Leonie and Siân around for two weeks each with the objective of learning more about community organising. It has been six weeks and I now understand it as a process seeking to empower the community through strategically connecting people with similar passions and coaching them to establish structural change. This means that the people with lived injustice experiences take charge and demand the changes they find most relevant. There is so much unexpected detail and reflection supporting community organising; I was particularly impacted by the way action planning takes each stakeholder into account through power mapping. Leonie and I power mapped the stakeholders relevant to pavement accessibility with Tina from Destination Ball Hill. She highlighted that the friendship group, which consists of about 10 elderly people who meet at the Stoke Library every Monday, is powerful because they have lived experience of the struggles that arise due to inaccessible pavements and thus would be able to get the city council’s attention. I had never imagined such a small group of people could have influence over decision makers, and yet all the community groups I have been in contact with have empowered themselves through pooling their collective passion and effort. My underestimation of the amount of strategy that goes into community initiatives and the power they hold was completely overturned by these groups and the CFG organisers.
My team members always say they “follow the energy,” they look for people who already want change and channel that into action. Coming from an academic environment, which I found can often be over-analytical and make all solutions seem insufficient, being in contact with people who want change and are willing to work for it has given me a newfound sense of optimism. This Monday I shadowed a one-to-one with Ade, who is growing into a leader of the Cov Cares movement, and he outlined how profit and people are inseparable components of business. When I mentioned that I study economics, he said “Economics is amazing” and went on to passionately speak about how important it is to him that local businesses care for the community, which has made me look at my degree in a new more interconnected way. It is not only Ade who is energetic and seeking change; there are so many organisers, change makers and volunteers in Coventry who are genuinely passionate about organising and believe in its power.
When I shadowed Gemma and Siân in their work organising Outspoke, a group of queer people who want to have more LGBTQ+ friendly spaces in Coventry, I was amazed by the way one-to-one conversations are conducted. They were very intentional, looking to understand what that person could and wanted to add to the group, as well as empower them to take ownership of the project. Shadowing these conversations has taught me that people can be strategic without being manipulative. When I was shadowing Siân, for example, she made the organising framework very clear to everyone we met, which gained their trust and helped them better understand what they are a part of. We also invited all organisers and change makers in the community to a meet-up, where some of the community organising framework was explained and skills were shared. I contributed by sharing my social media skills through a presentation and a Q&A. These one-to-ones and meet-ups build sustainable change because they develop new organisers who in the future can make groups like Outspoke become independent from Grapevine.
The role taken on by the organisers at CFG requires a degree of selflessness, because their jobs are to spotlight the community and, in an ideal scenario, to fade away once it is self-sustainable. This quality is reflected in this team of incredibly kind-hearted, caring and strong people. In my first week, I remember watching Gemma, Siân, Leonie and Laura ask and tell one another about how their weeks were going, as well as expect and give genuine answers. They also constantly asked me about how I was doing and had weekly reflections to think about how the internship was going and what should be done next, which made me feel embraced and cared for.
The Grapevine team members are intentionally reflective about the work that they carry out, thinking about what joy they are taking from it and how meaningful it is to them. They are constantly trying to improve themselves, reflecting together about their practice and shadowing each other to trade skills. I now have a new understanding of effort, and what it means to roll up your sleeves while still making sure that you are maintaining yourself warm. I decided to create CFG meet-the-team posts and share a bit of the warmth I was given through being embraced by this team. I feel very privileged to work alongside such positive and sincere people who genuinely care about the community in Coventry.
Throughout my internship at Grapevine, I saw power and action from a completely different perspective, and it has made me feel optimistic about the future of sustainability. This experience has changed my understanding of what it means to have an impactful career and work in a team and I feel excited knowing there may be a place in the job market where I can feel happy and proud of my work.
