ANNUAL REVIEW 2023

Annual Review Recap

“Enlightened”, “encouraged” and “connected” were some of the words used to encapsulate people’s feelings at the end of the last week’s annual review. This was my first time attending a BD_Collective annual review and I, myself left with a feeling optimism, excited for the year to come. It was delightful seeing people from across the social sector greet each other with beaming smiles, there was clearly an air of familiarity in the room even between those who may have never met. People were curious and eager to welcome new faces, with a keenness to ascertain different ways of working with one another. It was clear to me that creating spaces like this, to come together and discuss our progress, gave members the opportunity to connect and identify as more of a collective.

We spent the morning listening to people’s stories and journeys with the BD_Collective. We saw the different ways networks and consortia can work together to solve some of the deeply entrenched and complex issues in the borough through knowledge sharing. These stories ranged from forming a steering group to address social isolation to creating a new model of food provision that allowed people to feel more dignified. We heard the importance of collaboration through a powerful metaphor where the traditional African broom cannot effectively sweep without tightly held together stalks. We saw that a single stalk is not very useful, but tied together, the stalks become an effective broom. These stories also highlighted that for partnership to work, transparency and drawing on our shared values was imperative to overcome challenges and maximise impact.

The telling of these stories taught us a few important lessons, that it is easier to collaborate within smaller networks/collectives rather than access the BD_Collective as a whole. Together, we also recognised that platforms such as the organisation directory on the Collective’s website and the Discourse forum are useful tools to help facilitate networking however more work was needed to raise the awareness of these platforms across the borough.

In our penultimate exercise, this theme of accessibility re-emerged where individuals feedback that BD_Collective’s role was at times difficult to grasp and there was a recognition that the language used across the platform needed to be simplified to best convey the message. Some reported feeling “discombobulated” not understanding how to get involved with the collective with limited time or resources.
Interestingly, further discussions forced us to ascertain the assumptions underlying the collective’s purpose and there was a general consensus that the benefit of a network is not necessary to get what you need NOW but to know WHERE to go when a potential need arises. All in the room also recognised that networks are not just for when you need something but are also there when you have something to offer. Generally, people recommended that a focus on collaborating with those within your line of work would save you time/resources in the long run.

As we approached the end of the event, it dawned on me just how different things must have been 4 years ago when the BD_Collective was met with scepticism, many unwilling to open themselves up to new ways of working and distrust was the norm. What I saw last week was starkly different, there was real appetite to connect. It was refreshing to see people have a sense of safety that allowed them to share their opinions good or bad. On the whole, I felt energised by those around me, and inspired by their passion.

This is a strong position to be in, as we head into the new year with the contracts being retendered in February of next year. This review has given us important insights that will help shape our strategy for the coming year. We will gather again in January when the suggested way(s) forward will be proposed. Keep an eye out for a date to be confirmed!

We hope you enjoyed Maryam’s reflections.  We’d love to hear yours – email them to sarah@bdcollective.co.uk

Who was in the room

It was good to see so many people in the room. More than half the people present are actively involved in the  BD_Collective, two were new to it, and the remainder are members but not actively involved.

What did you learn..