The Relationships Project

🚀 NEW PUBLICATION: THE CASE MAKER 🚀 https://lnkd.in/eq6r7r5b Few people argue that relationships don’t matter, but many feel they don’t have the time, capacity or permission to prioritise them. In partnership with bestselling author Matt Lloyd-Rose and master designer Katie Slee, the Relationships Case Maker brings together compelling statistics with vibrant real-life stories to make the case for putting relationships first. Featuring candid and thought-provoking stories from:  ⭐ Barking and Dagenham Children’s Social Care ⭐ Gateshead Bridgebuilders ⭐ Grapevine Cov and Warks ⭐ Jeans Bothy ⭐ MAIA ⭐ Make/Shift Amber Valley ⭐ Moston Social Clean Up ⭐ NHS Palliative Care ⭐ Poppy's ⭐ Switchback ⭐ Xenia All narrated by the talented Emily Blad Use the Case Maker to: 🤔 Deepen your understanding of the difference that putting relationships first makes in a range of different contexts and scales  ✍ Develop your own narrative of why more investment in relationships will lead to better outcomes in your community or organisation 🗣 Start a discussion and build awareness around the value of relationship-centred practice amongst your team Come along to the launch event on 22nd April, 2-3pm BST (Zoom) to celebrate the transformative potential of putting relationships first. RSVP: https://lnkd.in/eQUxNmnm

Inside the new school for Britain’s most dangerous children https://lnkd.in/ekirFBHZ "We’re not a bunch of softies or happy-clappy hippies. What’s easy is locking a child in a cell for endless hours. All you need to be able to do is turn a key and have a cup of tea. What’s really hard, as every parent knows, is to sit with an anxious teenager. The whole thing is about trust. Everyone needs someone they can believe in and who can believe in them.” “We are committed to relationships through building trust, empowerment through providing choices and nurturing responsibility [and the] restoration of hope and dignity.”

I’ve been reflecting on a day at the hospital this week, and on the future of the NHS

Such a thoughtful piece by David Robinson and The Relationships Project about the challenge facing the NHS: “There are no easy binaries here but to the visiting eye there is simplicity beyond complexity. We want it all: We want the awesome science, all the shiny machines and death-defying medicine. We also want warmth and love and kindness.” This is the heart of the change that our country needs - to both leap forward, embrace technology and the opportunities of the future but in the process nurture the humanity that binds us and the power of love and relationships to transform our lives.

🏥 The Man in the Hospital 🏥 David Robinson reflects on a day at the hospital. As Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting consults on the future of the NHS, David makes the case for “critical synergy”. “We want the awesome science”, he says. “We also want good relationships – warmth and love and kindness. Half of this critical synergy depends upon the mighty NHS. Half is down to us. We must each make room for the other." https://lnkd.in/dxfUx_Zq

Some lovely reflections on relationship-building heroes by Matt Hyde OBE 👇

They might end by modestly apologising for the "dull written summary" of numerous fascinating conversations with relational workers, but we think this blog series by Rebeca Sandu and Mel Smith is anything but. Here, they summarise 7 insights about whether the term 'relational worker' resonates 👉 https://lnkd.in/ewdWP-Hp There's so much gold dust in here, but one excerpt that really stood out to us (and which links to the conversations many of began to have about 'Permissions' in Birmingham back in July) is: 'The system exerts a lot of power on relational workers who have to comply with rules and guidelines that at times sit at odds with forming healthy relationships. In turn, relational workers can feel powerless in a system that misunderstands their work, at best, and tries to control it, at worst. But in our conversations we heard about another power dimension; it’s the one that comes from knowing someone deeply, gaining knowledge about the needs and wishes of another who often has backed away from everyone, themselves included.' 🤔 What do you think? Does the term 'relational worker' resonate with you? What are the permissions, rules, norms and barriers you have to negotiate in order to put relationships first? 🤔

💫 THE RELATIONSHIPS ACADEMY 💫 How can we most usefully respond to the increasing demand for knowledge about relationship-centred practice, and for support in turning that knowledge into action on the ground? This is the question that we have been actively exploring since we put forward the idea of a Relationships Academy at David Robinson’s LSE lecture last year. In this blog we explain our plans and we end with an invitation 👉 https://lnkd.in/e-Pdm9UF The potential is exciting. Please help us to get it right.

We continue to be so inspired, heartened and excited by this fantastic movement taking place across Grimsby and NE Lincs 👏 👏 👏

The sun shone quite brightly through my window today… This afternoon me and a few amazing people who are passionate about the future of our communities in North East Lincolnshire came together to explore what makes good relationships. We also delved into how ‘power’ affects them. David Robinson of the The Relationships Project facilitated a compelling discussion and everyone contributed some deep and personal insights. I can see, and I am excited by, how this work will enable a future of relationship centred towns and communities. Relationships, towns and communities that really place people at the centre. People with good intent. I am proud, and I feel privileged, to be part of it. David Robinson Josie Moon Michelle Donner Lisa Smith Claire Thompson Killian Troy-O'Donovan Emily Bolton MBE Jason Stockwood Our Future