Tag: hope

My TEDxNHS Talk

Last year, I was invited to submit a proposal for a TEDxNHS talk. TEDx are independently organised TED events, and it turns out that TEDxNHS is the biggest of these in the world. I submitted two ideas – one around how we can work radically differently with our communities and one around how we create great working cultures in the NHS – both huge passions of mine. I was well excited to get through the process of selection, but was not at all prepared for the work ahead of me!

 

I do quite a bit of public speaking and really feel alive when I get to communicate things that I’m passionate about. I had no idea how different it is to prepare for a TED talk though! I read Chris Anderson’s book over the summer, and had several anxiety-related dreams . I genuinely thought I was never going to be ready! I couldn’t even really decide what I was going to talk about, let alone get it into an engaging piece of prose, whilst sticking to the all important 18 minute timeframe. Thanks to my amazing coach, Zara Brookes (can’t tell you how grateful I am!) and the kindness of Charlotte Hall and Shane Costigan, with hours of patience and encouragement from my lovely wife, Kat, I finally got it ready – an amalgamation of my passions. I hugely enjoyed the discipline and the focus involved in preparation, and when I got onto the stage at Indigo at the O2 Arena in London, this is what happened – hope you enjoy it:

 

Share This:

Share

Love Ecology – Part 3 – Gabriella Gilkes

The final speaker at our ‘Love Ecology’ was the wonderful Gabriella (Gabi) Gilkes, Head of Ecology and Health and Wellbeing at Eden North. Gabi talked to us about the real nature of ecology, connectivity, community and friendship. She also took us on an amazing tour of how the Eden Project will help the people of Morecambe Bay and all those who visit, reconnect with our Ecology and get involved in falling in love with and taking care of our environment, with a strong emphasis on the creative arts, story telling and beautiful experiences. Having been involved with various members of the team from the Eden Project over recent months, I am seriously impressed with their ethos, their kindness and their genuine sense of partnership with our communities, here in the bay. It really is a wonderful world! This talk is really worth 30 minutes of your time:

 

Share This:

Share

Love Ecology – Part 2 – Miles Irving

Having heard from the masterful wizard that is Alastair McIntosh, we also welcomed the earth-stewarding, foraging genius, who is Miles Irving. Miles, one of the leading foragers in the UK, talked to us about breaking the silence. With song and sensational wisdom, he spun out several threads, before catching us all in his web of interconnected beauty! Watch, listen and embrace the reality of our recoverable relationship to the ecology.

 

Share This:

Share

Love Ecology – Part 1 – Alastair McIntosh

At the start of October, we hosted ‘Love Ecology’ in Morecambe Bay. We started the day by reminding ourselves of the journey so far, through Love People, Love Society, Love Economics and Love Politics (I’ll be writing a separate blog on this soon).

 

We then welcomed the force of nature, who is, Professor Alastair McIntosh, aka Radagast the Brown (!), who is an incredible mix of Academic and Activist. He took us on an amazing journey of our disconnection from the land and how we can reconnect to it. This is seriously worthy of your time! Listen – this is so good!

 

Share This:

Share

Love Politics – Part 3 – Roger Mitchell

 

In my view, it would be impossible to host a day on ‘Love Politics’ without it including my great friend, Roger Mitchell. He is a brilliant thinker and one of the kindest people I know! His thesis, ‘Church, Gospel and Empire’ (or ‘The Fall of The Church’, if you want an easier to read version!) is vital reading for anyone who wants to seriously engage with the idea of a politics of love. Here, drawing in his own work and that of Luke Bretherton, he gives an absolutely brilliant insight into why love is such a powerful foundation and force for a new politics. This is really worthy of your time and energy!

 

Share This:

Share

Love Politics – Part 1 – Zahra Delilah

On July 17th we hosted another conversation in our series on how Love and Kindness might serve as important foundation stones for a reimagined future that is socially just for humanity and sustainable for the environment. So far, we’ve looked at ‘Love People’, ‘Love Society’, ‘Love Economics’ and this time the focus was ‘Love Politics’. We welcomed the incredible Zahra Delilah, political activist and organiser. She took us on a beautiful tour of love and it’s prepositions! Enjoy!

Share This:

Share

Love Economics – Part 4

 

We were thrilled to welcome Prof Katherine Trebeck of the ‘Wellbeing Economy’ to Morecambe Bay for our ‘Love Economics’ event. Katherine is a brilliant economist and has recently released this excellent book, ‘The Economics of Arrival’. You will be blown away by the hope of what Katherine has to say. Please make some time and let’s build a coalition of hope that things can and must change for good!

 

 

 

Share This:

Share

Love Economics – Part 3

I hope you have had the chance to watch/listen to the excellent input we had from Prof Imogen Tyler and Cllr Matthew Brown at the ‘Love Economics’ event in Morecambe Bay. If you haven’t done so, the I would highly recommend it!

 

This panel discussion, chaired by my good friend, Roger Mitchell, follows on and reflects on what both Imogen and Matthew spoke about. It is an excellent panel with some really phenomenal and helpful insights – get yourself a cuppa and continue to engage with this vital subject!

 

Share This:

Share

Love Economics – Part 2

When the economic crash of 2008 happened and the banks needed bailing out, the City of Preston in Lancashire, refused to blame the poor or adopt an economics of austerity. Instead, they developed an alternative economy, which is being hailed globally as one of the most exciting possibilities for the future in terms of social justice, environmental sustainability and human flourishing. The ‘Preston Model’ has now been well publicised and is being considered by cities such as New York as a viable model for the future. It is based on a few key principles, one of which is ‘Anchor Institutions’ (which the health foundation have written about in some detail in terms of the role the NHS could play).

 

I could not recommend a better way to spend half an hour, if you want to be inspired and filled with hope about what is possible. I don’t think the Preston Model is perfect, nor would it claim to be, but it does begin to offer exciting options for a way ahead. Here is Cllr Matthew Brown, leader of the Council, talking about the key principles involved and how they are working in Preston. We were really happy to welcome Matthew to Morecambe Bay as we explore an economics that is fit for the future. Enjoy!

 

Share This:

Share

Love Economics – Part 1

Is an Economics of love and kindness even possible? It may seem so beyond our current context that it may seem like a dream too far. However, economics comes from the Greek word Oikos, which literally means household. Whoever heard of a household that was really flourishing that wasn’t built on love and kindness? It is true that the simple model of a household is a bit defunct when comparing it to complex economic systems, but the foundational ethical principles need not differ.

 

Our recent “Love Economics” event in Morecambe Bay was kicked off by the excellent Prof Imogen Tyler, head of the Sociology Department at Lancaster University, who sets out the case for the utter failure of the economics of austerity. Her devastating diagnosis of the current trickle-down economic model to (ever) deliver real human flourishing and environmental sustainability is not easy listening. Her insights and wisdom based on sound data and research set the foundations for our conversation in the current reality and pain which our economic models are causing every day. You will find in parts 2, 3 and 4 loads of reasons for hope. However, our hope must not be based in denial of what we are experiencing now, otherwise, we will go on to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.

 

Share This:

Share