Members of our Mentoring Scheme meet to review the pilot

 

 

Earlier this week people who have experience of living in poverty and civil servants from policy areas that deal with Community Justice, Public Health and Public Service reform met together to evaluate and review a mentoring scheme which they have been involved in over the last 6 months.

People from both groups were paired together and have been meeting together regularly both in local communities and in Government offices to talk about each other’s lives and work. The meeting this week was a chance to reflect on the time that those involved took out of their busy lives to get to know more about each other. The initial aim for the scheme was that the pairings would meet 6 times over 6 months which was difficult in practise but was a good aim.

The group thought that the process had helped them to get to know someone new and that real relationships developed with real people which otherwise they might not have met. The process purposely did not have a set agenda, only a sheet of suggestions of where to meet and ideas that they could consider. This worked well for those involved, allowing them to find a way of meeting which suited them. There was also a consensus that it was good to meet each other in their ‘home’ patch which also gave those involved a chance to meet other people from communities or colleagues. Being introduced to folk by local people made a big difference to the relationships formed.

Liz* and Julie* were both very nervous in the lead up to their first meeting however once they got to know one another this changed. In their meetings they went on walkabout tours, visited Bridging the Gap (a drop in which Liz is involved in), visited the Government offices in Edinburgh and met with the Ministers private secretary and local community police. Liz was challenged by the way Julie worked and meeting with her regularly helped her feel much more confident and connected to the political process. Julie very much appreciated the opportunity to get to know people as herself rather than as a civil servant and welcomed the chance to learn by getting a feel for things rather than through research.

There has been much to take away from the process:

• Learning, about how Government works and that civil servants are people and approachable;
• Confidence;
• A reminder that society is made up of individuals and the policies made in Government impacts on those individuals;
• and how important it is not just to spend time behind a desk, but to broaden horizons by meeting with people directly.

Isabelle* from the PTC, who was involved in the scheme, said “I got involved as the idea of it sounded good. I liked the chance to work with civil servants rather than MSPs; the people that write the policies and don’t just want your vote. Being involved has helped me to meet someone new that has a different outlook on life and made me think more about the pressures civil servants go through. I hope to continue friendship we have formed.”

A number of recommendations were made and it is hoped that another group of people will undertake the scheme in the New Year.

*Names have been changed.

 

One Year On - Hopes for the future - Working with People

RECENTLY the  Poverty Truth Commission published our 'One year on' report which looks back at the work that has been done over the last year since the 'Findings of the Commission' were published at its closing gathering in April 2011 and also sets out our plans for the future. To read the report, and other reports and articles about the Poverty Truth Commission, please visit our website. As part of the report we set out our hopes for future work as the original members of the Commission have decided that there is still much for the Commission to do using our unique experience.

One area of work we will develop over the next year is to continue and expand our support for people living in poverty to have the confidence to speak out about their experience and realise their expertise. We have already started meeting with new commissioners to help them to develop their story and to look at the issues they would like to explore.

At the same time we hope to work with a number of people in positions of power who would like to have develop skills in listening to the realities of poverty and in turn use that knowledge to impact on their area of work. We hope then to bring the two groups of people together in the same way as the first group of commissioners to hear from one another and hopefully find a way of working together to make lasting change.

This work is already happening within the Mentoring Scheme which is currently being piloted with the Scottish Government, where Civil Servants from policy areas that deal with Community Justice, Public Health and Public Service reform are being mentored by people drawn from communities that have a direct experience of poverty and inequality.

Elaine Downie, Development Worker for the Poverty Truth Commission, is leading on this area of work. She commented "too often, people living with the reality of poverty feel they have nothing of importance to say, or no-one to listen seriously to them without pity or blame.  We believe and have experienced the opposite.  

Meeting people who know best the struggles of poverty in their own communities we listen and listen again to the stories they have to tell us, encouraging them to recognise the importance of their opinions and ideas and to see how they feed into policies that are being created at local and national levels. 

We then bring them together with some of the people who create and shape these policies in true conversation. As relationships develop, change blooms. People living with the reality of poverty have much to say, often with great creativity and eloquence. Watch out for our latest films and blog posts, or visit our facebook page for the change to be part of the conversation."