At work:
- Co-design of a strategic plan – planning and development meeting with the team to align the various strands of engagement that I will be running over the next few months.
- Local democracy event – team catchups and future planning. (I’m involved in this one on a voluntary basis.)
- Evaluation support – another working session with the team, designing workshop and survey questions to submit to the Uni’s ethics approval before we can progress further.
- Catchment partnership – had a very excellent meeting that’s brought a lot of clarity, and has accelerated what we’re able to do in the time available. The project has been a bit slow and stuck so far, though I have been making modest progress, but this has added boosters. Got an in-person planning session in 2 weeks. NOW we’re cooking! 🙂 (Had some other meetings also and did a bunch of planning and prep around those.)
- Supporting an engagement team – had 2 one-to-ones with team members to check-in on the evolving team dynamics and their confidence in delivering to their workplans. It was heartening that they were both in a much better place than when we started this work.
Deliverables this week:
- “Managing change” workshop (in person in Rhyl) for social and community leaders – went very well, verbal feedback was really positive. It was an intense 4 hour session and I was too brain dead to write down what people said to me so hopefully there will be some feedback collated by the client! The train journey there was productive but on the return I did absolutely nothing! 😀
Development this week:
- Found out this week we’ve won a tender for supporting and coordinating engagement in Wrexham. (“We” being myself and Mike Corcoran, another consultant I have been working with for about a decade!!). Kick off meeting and project planning will probably happen next week, we’re due to start in June.
- I’ve been doing some thinking and scribbling and drafting some edits for this website as well as some content for a new website about our dialogue work. (“Our” meaning myself and Treena Davies, someone else I’ve been working with for years and years.) I think I must have mentioned the new website last year with a “watch this space”, but I haven’t had the time or brain to do anything more with it until now, so it’s good to have some creative thinking space and make some progress on this.
- Attended an online training session on “becoming trauma-informed”, which was very good. I already follow trauma-informed principles in my facilitation design and delivery, but it was great to have an overview all in one place, with additonal models and frameworks. In 2 weeks I have a follow-up session on “trauma-informed interviewing”.
At home:
- 2 pilates this week not 3, because on Wednesday I had car sorting out missions to do again (hopefully the last for a while now).
- No swim this week-end; when the high tide times are in the middle of the day or in the afternoon it’s harder for everyone to make it.
- The 30 mins HIIT (high intensity interval training) session on Thursday (my first ever) was great and I have booked in for next week. Planning to go Tuesdays and Thursdays to complement my pilates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I like that the HIIT sessions are a) short (30 mins) and b) early (6.45am) so I can get to them with regularity and then return to shower and start the day. The trainer tried to interest me in a 60 mins circuit class but 30 mins is plenty for now… also my legs ached for the 2 following days, so looking forward to getting acclimatised and being not so achy after!
- No Welsh this week, I was so brain dead after the return to north Wales that by the evening I couldn’t string 2 sentences together in English, let alone in Welsh!
- Got the car sorted (indicator bulb + a load of dashboard lights came on!) and also got a new tyre fitted to replace the flat. Then I ordered a delivery of fancy pop and biscuits for my nice garage who didn’t charge me for changing the bulb and diagnosing / resetting all the dashboard lights.
- Finished the big house sort and tidy. Basking in the heatwave and enjoying being outside sorting out newly acquired plants and my young cherry tomato plants (that I’ve grown from seed this year). Making elderflower cordial. #CottageCore
