Creating the Conditions: A consultancy offer.
As we enter into the last six months of the New System Alliance funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, we are offering our support to housing, mental health and other third sector organisations across the UK.
Over the last four years, we have been working with our partners, and those signed up to be part of the Alliance, to share learning, gather ideas and create spaces to support and challenge each other. That, alongside the expertise and knowledge held by Platfform and Mayday Trust, mean we are in a position to offer something back to members of the network.
We want to offer days of support, free of charge. These can take different forms – training, workshops, consultancy – the choice would be yours.
The number of days available is subject to demand and we will accommodate as many requests as possible within the time limits and constraints of the project’s final few months funding.
What we’d focus on
We would want these days of support to focus on at least some of the following, but we are open to other ideas:
- How to build capacity for system change: can the support be used to create positive relationships and connections within a local area? Can it be used to help an organisation through tough times? Can it be used to ensure people’s voices are heard? Can it be used to help create the psychological safety to create change?
- How to better understand mental health and relational / trauma informed work: Could your organisation, or a group of organisations, that might struggle to afford official training, make good use of these training days? Are you leading a group of volunteers in an area but have no funding for training?
- How to shift towards a strengths-based way of working with people
- How to leave a lasting legacy
We have specific off-the-shelf training and support we could offer, with minimal development needed:
- Systems Reflects: A day workshop for up to 15 people, where we help people understand the conditions needed for system change, to reflect on what might be getting in the way, and to understand the building blocks of strengths-based working;
- Wisdoms Reflections: We could conduct a listening exercise for your team, or the people you support, using the Wisdoms approach set out by Mayday Trust, which can help understand the reality of experiences on the ground.
- Strengths-based approaches to support: We could offer a day’s training session focused on how we can see the work we do differently, ways to bring strengths-based approaches into our organisation, and to explore what can get in the way.
- Re-thinking mental health – A one day evidence-based accredited course, advancing our understanding of mental health and the challenges associated with medical models.
- Rethinking anxiety and stress – 2 x 2 hour workshops exploring the intricacies of workplace challenges, and the specific factors within the workplace that contribute to anxiety and stress as well as practical strategies.
Interested?
If you are interested, please send us your initial expression of interest by the end of the day on 17 May.
> Click here to send your expression of interest.
We will consider expressions of interest and approach people and organisations to develop in more detail what the support might look like.
We would want the support to be delivered between June and the end of September.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact olivertownsend@platfform.org.