Chair’s summary

July’s Collaborative meeting saw a varied range of support organisations come together again to positively engage in, and get a better sense of, how the Changing Futures programme is moving forward and delivering on its objectives.

We started with the co-chairs introducing themselves and setting the scene for the meeting. We then moved onto an update on the programme from Kath Williams, the new Programme Director who has taken over from Anna Smith this July. The update gave good insight into the 54 complex clients currently engaged in the project and illustrated how the programme has achieved some real life changing outcomes for several clients, how it has the potential to impact city policy, and has inspired other cities. Additionally, during this section, we had a suggestion to capture the before and after state of the sector and public spending to illustrate Changing Futures’ wider societal impact. Also, it was suggested to invite Temba, the programme’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion lead, to be invited to the next Collaborative meeting to report on how the Black Led Forum is affecting the wider programme.

This led-on to Kath sharing issues and questions that were raised at previous Collaborative meetings and how they have been acted-on, including: defining our version of “systems change”; providing workshops and training around EDI; providing more clarity on, and opportunities to learn more about, MTAM.

Following this, Sarah-Jane, the programme’s Communication Manager, got people to join in an activity where a ball of yarn was passed back and forth between all the people in the room, with people receiving the ball having to explain how they and their service meet the need of people facing multiple disadvantage. While fun and informative, the exercise also created an interconnecting web which illustrated just how all our services are connected but also how complex the system can be for our clients. We then went into a comfort break.

Finally, we delved into the main activity of the meeting, where the group split into 3 tables to develop a shared safety plan around a client persona. This activity highlighted how difficult and varied it can be to support someone with multiple and complex needs, and how many different services can be needed to effectively transform a client’s life.

 Overall, it was a good meeting, which was summarised by the co-chairs, who also thanked everyone for coming.