As I was preparing to write this month’s news, I looked back on the article written last year about Restorative Approaches and thought it would be a great reminder to include the 5 key themes again – as mediators, it’s really useful to remind ourselves of what underlies conflict and how important it is to focus on needs, thoughts and feelings.
As well as that, this month will have an update on changes within the office and funding matters. As you are all aware, continued funding is an issue for all organisations which rely on Central and/or Local Government finance and Mediation Herts is no exception. Other news included this month;
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The 5 key themes underpinning Restorative Approaches
These are;
Unique Stories – everyone has their own unique perspective on a situation or event and needs an opportunity to express this in order to feel respected, valued and listened to.
Thoughts Influence Feelings – what people think at any given moment influences how they feel at that moment, and these feelings inform how they behave. The thoughts and feelings are beneath the surface and yet very important to understand.
Needs – whether someone has caused harm or been on the receiving end of harm, they are likely to have similar needs. Until these needs are met, the harm may not be repaired and relationships remain damaged.
Putting things right together (Ownership of problem-solving and decision making) – it is the people affected by a situation or event who are best placed to identify what should happen so that everyone can move on, and so that the harm can be repaired. This ‘ownership’ of decision-making and problem-solving demonstrates respect and trust, develops pro-social skills and confidence and strengthens connections.
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Office Changes
From May 1st, I will be reducing my working days from 5 to 4 a week. My non-working day will vary from week to week as I want to remain flexible, but the office will continue to be covered by Jackie from Monday to Wednesday and Sarah on Thursday and Friday.
We are planning to take on a freelance fundraiser to prepare funding bids and get the service ready for bidding for tenders. The Trustees are currently considering the details of this post and will make a decision about it shortly.
Thanks to those who sent in suggestions and offers of help in response to Macarena and Arran’s e-mail. The Board will be discussing these at its May meeting. It is hoped that a small group can be set up to take forward plans to build on our strengths and secure future sustainability.
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More about our new Volunteer Coordinator
Polly has a background of working within challenging educational environments – teaching pupils that were excluded from their mainstream schools and within a Local Government Special Educational Needs Department where conflict between parents, schools and the Local Authority was a regular occurrence. Most recently Polly managed a team of specialist teachers supporting approximately 90 primary schools in managing challenging behaviours and in particular advocated the use of Restorative Practices and peer group mediation. She is an accredited mediator following completion of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Course at Regent’s College, School of Psychotherapy and Counselling (Feb 2007). Polly carried out a number of successful mediations for the HR department within her previous employment and has been involved in training a team of youth workers and public sector managers in mediation skills alongside the CH Group whom she is affiliated to.
Polly is currently making telephone contact with the team in order to introduce herself and to discuss any current issues or needs that individual mediators may have. She is putting together a brief questionnaire focusing on professional development and support requirements which will sent via email in the next week or so. In addition she is working with Maria to organise a peer support meeting to be held in the coming months – the proposed date for this meeting is the morning of Saturday 25th June, so please pencil that into your diaries/calendars.
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Let’s Talk event on 1st March
This was the seminar at which we launched our Workplace Mediation service and we had publicised it widely and in a range of different ways to reach as broad an audience as possible. In the end, we had 14 participants who came mainly from the voluntary and non-profit sectors. There were some fascinating presentations from our speakers who gave an excellent outline of what mediation could offer and the context in which workplace disputes arise. We then broke into discussion groups, to give participants the opportunity to talk in more detail about their issues and what they would want in terms of support in their individual workplaces. Finally, there was time for questions and comments from the floor – an interesting range of views and an indication that some had come to the event hoping to be trained as mediators during this morning session!
Michele Wheeler has written her final report with recommendations, which will be discussed by Trustees at a special meeting on 7th April. Following that, a decision will be made about how we go forward in terms of building on the excellent work already done and the contacts we have made during the preparation for the seminar.
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Update Training with Sue Banwell-Moore – 14th May
Apologies for the change of date and the fact that some of you cannot now attend because of that. However, on balance the May date was better for more people.
The venue should be arranged shortly and will probably be in St Albans – to be confirmed. It is an all-day event and Sue has proposed that we do some work of focussing on parties’ needs – as well as some of the suggestions included in the February newsletter.
Please watch out for more info which should be available within the next 2-3 weeks.
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The Big Lunch on Sunday 5th June
We are invited to join the Big Lunch event at 12 noon in the Marlowes on Sunday 5th June to celebrate Volunteers Week. If there are enough of us from Mediation Herts, we can book our own table and decorate it as well! There will be musical entertainment and games and a Midsummer Fair in the Market Square. Food is not provided but maybe we could bring dishes to share, as we did for our post-Christmas gathering.
If any of you are interested in coming along, I will send out a request for names nearer the time and we can then confirm if there are enough of us to fill up a whole table.
For more information about this event, please look at the Volunteer Centre website on www.volunteerdacorum.org
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