Community

Teachers all over the country are trying to find ways to add the government’s ‘British values’ to their lessons. The British values are: democracy the rule of law individual liberty mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those […]

I was recently getting my hair cut, and my hairdresser (who shall remain nameless) was chatting about being involved in the Parent and Teacher Association (PTA) at her son’s new school.  Her question when talking about the woman who runs the PTA was ‘what does […]

Wouldn’t it be good if the lasting image of the Manchester bombing was that homes, hotels and taxi drivers opened their doors to those who were in distress and trying to escape the horror? What a superb counter-response to this act of terror – if […]

This piece was written for the Theatre, Dance and Performance Training journal and was first published on their blog. This notion that the leader needs to be ‘in charge’ and ‘know all the answers’ is both dated and destructive… Fear leads to risk aversion. Risk […]

Last Wednesday, at our Community Hub’s weekly café session, something very simple, but profound and touching, happened. Riyad, who is 20 months old, was watching George, in his 80s and in a wheelchair. Riyad’s mum, Lamyae, said to him (in Arabic) ‘Go and shake hands […]

You know that thing about you remember 20% of stuff you are hear, 30% of what you see and 80% of what you do?[1] Well, learning English doesn’t have to involve teachers, textbooks or listening to language CDs. It can be very practical, and very […]

Community projects are great. They galvanise volunteers, they engage new residents and beneficiaries and sometimes they even attract funding! And that’s not all. They are locally rooted, they address practical needs and they are a good use of local community centres and places of worship. […]

What makes a Briton and a ‘British value’ is the thorniest of issues, but whether we agree with current government policy or not, we can agree that speaking English is a key entry point for anyone who is to integrate within the United Kingdom today. […]

All human beings need a sense of belonging. It is integral to our well-being. A lack of belonging underpins the divisions in UK society that the Casey Review has identified. Segregation, deprivation and social exclusion are both the source and the consequence of failing to feel that we belong.

Speaking of her visits to the Calais Jungle, Sharon Kanolik from The Old Vic/The Young Vic said, “I felt more welcomed than I have anywhere else. People invited me into their tents and offered me food. There were lots of moments of hope and humour, meeting bright resilient people.”