My name is Caroline Janes and I’ve recently started working with Fulfilling Lives as a Research and Evaluation Assistant. Since I was recruited in March 2016, time has flown by and I’ve learnt so much already. These may be clichés but they’re also true: I’ve not only learnt about my role, how it fits in with the programme, and how the programme works, but I’ve also I’ve also gained life skills and a wider understanding of Multiple and Complex Needs as a whole.
The whole team have been welcoming to me and it’s helped to have been succeeded as a newbie on a number of occasions. Fulfilling Lives has recently employed two new Navigators – Shane and Graham – and a Communications Assistant, Ellie. The Programme Manager, Lindsay Henderson, is also a relatively recent member of our team and had only been in post a couple of weeks before I started. Her fresh perspective on the project has allowed me to understand how programme changes are debated and enacted. My wider knowledge across the programme has also been assisted through opportunities where I’ve been lucky enough to shadow a Navigator and System Broker. From a research perspective it definitely helps to understand what’s going on elsewhere!
Apart from my day-to-day job I’ve also had the opportunity to attend various events: the Fulfilling Lives Biennial Conference in Birmingham; the Fulfilling Lives Stop Start Continue day at the Rising Sun Country Park and the Changing Lives Annual Event. More recently I attended the Fulfilling Lives Annual Event at Newcastle Business School and I want to talk about this event for my first blog piece.
At the Fulfilling Lives Annual Event in June 2016 there was a high attendance of key stakeholders and experts related to the programme. We also had speakers including Baroness Hillary Armstrong and Sir Paul Ennals (Chair of the Fulfilling Lives Strategic Group) who gave a welcome introduction to the event. Julian Corner from Lankelly Chase gave a presentation that the audience found particularly intriguing due to an insightful analogy which compared an elephant with the Multiple Complex Needs system: if we were up close to an elephant on our own we wouldn’t be able to see a way around it, but if we work together, using our own individual perspectives, a whole view of the elephant and therefore a solution to getting past it, can be found.
It was particularly interesting for me to see the Fulfilling Lives Newcastle and Gateshead programme overview which was presented to the audience in the afternoon. Together with my view from the inside I felt our three Brokers and Programme Leader gave telling talks on how we seek to impact system change, what the current aims of the project are, and the success of our recent Psychologically Informed Environments (PIE) pilot.
Throughout the day the atmosphere embodied Fulfilling Lives. It was filled with learning and open-mindedness, passion and enthusiasm, and of course just enough space to network and talk to each other
We had a short break helping us to absorb the information and grab a coffee then we jumped back into Fulfilling Lives. With learning from Juliette Hough at New Economics Foundation, and Sophie Boobis the Research and Evaluation Lead (my boss!) on the Unit Cost Calculator we explored the economics of the programme – another important aspect for any data-head! This economic learning built on talks given earlier in the morning by Laura Furness at Big Lottery Fund, and Aly-Bingham Smith from Resolving Chaos. It was interesting to see how economic analysis was approached in different ways by different groups across the country.
Towards the close of the day our Engagement and Co-Production Engagement Worker, Mark, took us through what the Experts by Experience had been working on throughout the year. The Experts are a group with lived experience of the systems we are striving to change in the Newcastle and Gateshead area, and are paramount to the decisions we make. Mark ended his section of the day with video diaries from four of our Experts who talked about their experiences. There was particular mention of how the Experts by Experience group has helped the Experts themselves or helped them to empower others. This was a really positive note and drew the audience’s collective mind back to what it’s all about- empowering people to live a fulfilled life.
The day ended with table discussions where everyone provided feedback on Fulfilling Lives key ideas for focus during the next 2 years. I’ve learnt that this transparency of information sharing and helping each other work out a problem is absolutely centric to the program’s core values.
Throughout the day the atmosphere embodied Fulfilling Lives. It was filled with learning and open-mindedness, passion and enthusiasm, and of course just enough space to network and talk to each other. At the end of the day three of us ran around the corner in the pouring rain with leftover sandwiches to drop off at the People’s Kitchen– a bit of team spirit helped close the day perfectly!
