The Times They Are a-Changin’
This post marks the halfway point of the Year Here programme for the Spring 2017 cohort. As of Friday 21st July, we officially finished our frontline placements. It marked the end of 5 month’s toil over Innovation projects in organisations and sectors across London. All this in a bid to improve the lives of the individuals they have been working with. A group of 19 individuals ‘learning by doing’ on the frontline of hostels, supported housing, elderly care homes, schools and GP surgeries.
On Friday, we came together (as we do every fortnight) as a group for “Fireside Friday.” It’s a day of classroom-style learning, personal development and reflection. We started the day by updating the rest of the group on how the final 2 weeks had been. For a few people there was a sense of melancholy about leaving the placement. Most were glad to be moving on to something new. But in saying goodbye to the people they had helped they realised that leaving the placement meant leaving relationships behind too.
Year Here is all about change. Being thrust into challenging scenarios gives you the opportunity to change your perspective. You see the lives of the real people behind the numbers printed in newspapers. By living these experiences firsthand you can make decisions based on the individuals most affected. From there you can build social enterprises that make a real change and impact. You learn skills and gain knowledge through your experience, because you were there. (You also avoid ‘Philantainment’: Philanthropy for the sake of boosting your own ego.)
Change is not easy to deal with and it can bring about a host of conflicting emotions. There can be at once the joy of moving on and the fear of uncertainty about the future. The sadness at leaving relationships behind and the happiness that you made them at all. The frustration that you haven’t achieved all you wanted and the gratitude for the experience and knowledge you gained. Yet in taking that leap into change we find out more about ourselves than we ever could by staying in the same place. It’s pertinent now more than ever as we change phases in the course, from frontline to consultancy.
As I prepared to write this post, I read back through the last five months of blog posts on Year Here & Now ( you should too). Those blog posts, that have documented their lives and given snapshots of their experiences, have me awe struck with their accomplishment. At some points they intimidated me — how could I compare my work to theirs? But then the sense of awe and intimidation only made me more excited for the coming months of consultancy. Then I will have the chance to work on a project with some of these skilled and talented individuals!
The projects in the consulting phase will bring new and challenging experiences. Yet I am so excited at the thought of bringing together the skills and knowledge we have all gained on our frontline placements. We’ll be working together to build something that will improve the lives of others. For me, that is a change worth working hard for.
