Conversations, Benches and a Cruel Government

Today was the start of another chapter in the local story.  We met with two local women whose skills are needed and whose contribution to the community has an economic value that needs to be accounted for. They will host community conversations,  grow the Well Good space and organise a knees-up for older members of the community.  We’ll see how this goes for a couple of months and then decide if we want to carry on working together. They are off this week trying out learning conversations and I’m energised and curious about what they might discover. 

In the evening we gathered at the Bookcycle cabin to think about benches around the community. This was an idea submitted on the Vocal Eyes platform and people who are interested in progressing it gathered together. We opened a conversation on Facebook too, so that people have different ways in which to get involved. We looked at different types of benches, thought about locations, and, shared stories about why this was important to us and the community. Someone suggested that we might want to ask the Council for the benches that are no longer required from the Galleries shopping centre, now that it is being demolished. What a great idea. Love what grows out of community conversations and really looking forward to sitting on community benches this summer. 

Tonight I offered a guided meditation to a beautiful friend and neighbour who should really be signed off sick from work as a community nurse. The guilt and the state of the NHS is preventing her from putting her own health needs first. It’s criminal the harm that this cruel Government is causing to people with hearts of gold.