tEAm news #80 | 11.5.22
We really are only as good as our team!
Lots more empathy building activity on the way… and more to come. You’re invited (#understatement) to get involved more!
DJ (2 room version) is here (set up at the Barn in Penshurst) - workshops & rehearsals underway - you are welcome to come along to see and to help out (cast and crew (who will play a much bigger part) wanted!)
Dates
MOMENT OF PRAYER - Mondays 9-9:15: a moment to pause and pray for our work & team. All welcome!
Link here (Meeting ID: 708 452 7633 Passcode: empathy)5th May - 20th May - Desperate Journeys at the Barn. The remaining schedule for rehearsals and workshops are (if you would like to attend please get in touch with Chris):
Wednesday 11th May 10.30-12.30 - workshop/rehearsal
Friday 13th May 10.30-12.30 - workshop/rehearsal
Tuesday 17th May 10.30-12.30 - workshop/rehearsal
Thursday 19th May 10.30-12.30 - workshop/rehearsal
Friday 20th May evening (timing TBC) - "Friends and Family" performance
13-17th June: UCL Consultancy Challenge (Cam & Ben leading) - more on this beneath.
20th June: World Refugee Day (Refugee week: 15-20th June)
26-27th June: Wally Hall, Sevenoaks The Poverty Trap (TPT) day programme (also 0.5 day of Empathy Exercises)
28-29th June: Canford School, Wimborne TPT (overnight)
30th June: Empathy Exercises, Sevenoaks School
SIGN UP SHEET to indicate your availability - We are using a new Sign Up Sheet (with different tabs) for volunteers wanting to help out. Please indicate your availability.
To come
(yet to be confirmed events!)
Our ‘Empathy Experiment’ webinars will be returning with guests!
TPT in Tunbridge Wells for Friends & family - practice and recruiting event
Empathy Exercises practice for Wally Hall/Sevenoaks School for team & friends & family (TBC c late May/early June)
St Johns Primary School: Empathy Exercises (TBC)
TPT: Activate Learning (TBC c Sept)
Sevenoaks School, TPT for Year 8s (TBC Autumn)
Peace Day (21st Sept) Handicrafts campaign
Climate Justice Week (Nov, TBC)
UCL Consultancy Challenge
Breaking into new and emerging audiences with our incredible products from The Empathy Store through active campaigning.
We are tapping into the power of volunteers from the student community to help develop future handicraft campaigns (eg Peace day, Refugee Week, International Women’s Day). We have Yasmin Garcia-Sterling (pictured beneath and a pHD student from UCL) assigned to us to help a group of 8 students for the week 13-17th June to help crack this idea further.
Thanks UCL. Plus we even get an opportunity to win £1000!
BACKSTORY: A cool link! This partnership came about only when looking into recruiting students for cast in Desperate Journeys (for HereEast) a couple of years ago in east London. That simulation was scuppered due to the pandemic but this relationship flourished and the UCL community really reached out to help groups like us even more - we won money for support producing The High Life and ran a trial of DJ over zoom with them (one of the students that took part is very active in the refugee support and advocacy since being involved)
Ben, Yasmin & Ben planning the UCL June 2022 Consultancy Challenge
Other Updates
PARTNER NEWS: We are pleased to have partnered with Climate Stewards over the past year. We have supported them through donations made for using ’The High Life’. These have helped to fund projects offsetting the donors carbon footprint. Their annual report, which can be accessed here, highlights the valuable work they have been doing.
TEAM IN ACTION: Paul and Heather will be speaking on ‘The High Life’ at the Service and Partnerships Conference held at Sevenoaks School on the 7th June in partnership with the Schools Community Action group, which has already attracted 80 participants from a number of schools.
COME AND SEE: DJ (2 room version) being set up at the Barn (photos beneath). If you know people who may benefit from experiencing the simulation then please let us know - there’s a chance to bring them along (Fri 20th and there maybe more).
Photo Credit: J Crisp
What we are watching, listening, reading, attending…
This week we asked our UCL partner about what they have been reading or reminded of since working with us. Yasmin said:
“This was a book I read as a child and I thought of it recently :)”
Other reads, clips, podcasts, events, films from around the team
If you haven’t already seen it, this video has gone viral about students protesting against cruel policies against refugees at a speech from Priti Patel last week.
Sobering stats from the Government on the national referrals for 2021 on slavery in the UK (up 20% from the year before).
Idiots Guide to Saving the World Podcast - on the SDGs and this week is on education and some of the incredible educators and people crafting important ‘access to education’!
HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Emotional Intelligence -fascinating insights into why empathy and emotional intelligence are marks of great leaders.
Sue W has been ‘enjoying’ American Dirt - Jeanine Cummings in her book group. A gritty yet hopeful novel about the journey from Mexico to USA escaping the Mexican cartels.
From Alison D - Zoom meeting (this Thursday at 8pm) focused on the theme of hospitality, focusing on refugees and immigration from The Justice Conference. More information here
Persian Lessons film (on iPlayer) - a powerful WW2 story about a Jewish man held in a concentration camp
Our fellow empathy building friends at ThoughtBox have just started a Regenerating Leadership course for educators.
Understanding Israel-Palestine. With Nakba Day (15th May) coming up, this video made for kids to help understanding of the issue caught our eye to understand further a complex situation.
From Sandy - you are welcome to join her for one of the Imaginal Conversations (on Zoom) that she leads with Reboot The Future (who we are making the bullet pins for) next Tuesday (between 3-5pm): the link is here
Can you help?
Sims - we always need to create teams for our events; if you are keen to help please watch this space and especially the sign up sheet (above).
AND can you refer a friend to help?
Our game plan is to invite more people to take part, (we’ll nearly always match them up with experienced staff to help ease them into the activity).
Our hope is to build experienced teams (across the country) to help us run even more programmes. If you know someone, please introduce us!
Regular help! (in the office, or remotely) - admin, creating a useable filing drive in Google Drive, handicrafts order prep, grant applications, helping us with a new Livelihood Development Fund (to help us invest into potential partners and people to find new authentic stories to use in the sims), writing and sending out Team News, writing regular blogs, story gathering from our partners, researching empathy exercises, approaching sponsors and more.
Any referrals would be GRATEFULLY received! We’ll always start the process with a chat - over zoom, or in person to find out more and share some areas that we need regular help with.
Good photos wanted! We would like to use more of ‘our’ photos in blogs, Team News, social media posts, promo materials and will need a stock of photos to grab… AND we don’t want to use other people’s but rather OUR people’s.
Here’s what we’ll need: your photos with all the background info (who, what, why, where, when, date and your permission to use them) - we’d also, proudly, love to credit you if we use it! Thanks!
Ways to support Empathy Action
Volunteering -watch out for opportunities here in TN and we’ll host meet ups with updates over the coming year
Share the news - please forward, share any social media posts
Introduce us - please introduce us to any prospective volunteers, customers or clients… we’d value your help in these introductions.
Regular giving - can you spare us the price of a cuppa (£2.50) a week? A little goes a really long way.
Via smile.amazon - link beneath
Thank you!