Through Thick and Thin
How an infrastructure for relationships could unlock the collective action we need to accelerate progress towards a world designed for and around relationships
Lots of people in lots of different spaces are doing amazing work around building better relationships, but the connections between these nodes are often weak or non-existent. Drawing on conversations with over 100 people in late 2020 and early 2021, we (led by Iona Lawrence) explore the challenges we share in prioritising relationships in the places that we live and work and the work that needs to be done to address those needs.
Our shared and uniting goal is to build a world that is designed for and around relationships: a world where relationships are the first mile, not the extra one.
Building a Relationship Collective: Our Proposal
Building on the insights unearthed in Through Thick and Thin, we submitted an expression of interest to the Bringing People Together Fund at the National Lottery Community Fund to bring to life the idea of an infrastructure for relationships. Drawing inspiration from Joe Mills and friends in the democracy centre, we decided to publish the proposal in the open so everyone can see what we’re hoping to do and more easily explore ways to collaborate.
In short, the expression of interest we submitted is for a two year project to design, test and build the necessary infrastructure to support shared learning and collaboration in the field of relationships and relationship-centred practice in the coming decades.
We are delighted to say that our application was successful and, as of Autumn 2022, we are focused on developing the infrastructure for a thriving field of relationship-centred practice. Find out more about our plans for the next two years below.
Intergenerational Solidarity in the Coronavirus Era
In brief In this blog for The Relationships Observatory, Cares Family CEO and Founder Alex Smith reflects on the importance of intergenerational solidarity for socially isolated older people and economically isolated younger people. The Cares Family is a group of...
Building Back Better
In brief In this short blog, David takes stock of what we've learnt from The Relationships Observatory and offers a positive reflection on what we take forward as we rebuild. This blog has also been published as part of Compass's #BuildBackBetter series. 750,000...
Observatory Sighting #6: Coming together and moving apart
In our sixth Observatory Sighting, we explore the ways in which we've both come together and moved apart, and ask how we can do more of the former and less of the latter. We have been looking at where communities are coming together across faiths, geographies...
Observatory Sighting #5: From control to participation?
In our fifth Observatory Sighting, we explore the theme of participation, exploring instances in which we've seen a shift from control to participation and asking ourselves how this can be sustained. In the Looking to the Future discussion last week we took...
Observatory Sighting #4: From competition to collaboration
In our fourth Observatory Sighting, we discuss the shift from competition to collaboration born from the necessity of a rapid, joined up response to the disruption wraught by Covid-19. Relationships between organisations are changing as much as relationships between...
It’s All About Relationships: Connecting to connected
In this extraordinary contribution to the Joining the Dots series Dr Nick Barnes looks ahead to a post-Covid future, arguing that to build a better society, we must address inequality and redress power structures. Nick works as a Specialty Doctor in...
Connecting to Connected: Focusing on relationships in the age of Coronavirus
Nick works as a Specialty Doctor in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, as a Cognitive Analytic Therapist and Honorary Senior Lecturer at University College London. In this blog, Nick discusses the fundamental role that relationships will play in enabling us to...
Observatory Sighting #3: The recalibration of trust
In this Observatory Sighting, we explore how trust is being recalibrated and the impact this is having on relationships both now and in the futureOver the last couple of weeks we have reported on what we see on the surface: Thousands of new community groups, new...
Observatory Sighting #2: Relational poverty and inequality
In this Observatory Sighting, we reflect on the link between relational poverty and other forms of inequality during Covid 19Observation Offline modes of socialising are moving online, widening the web of participation. But significant numbers slip through the...
Observatory Sighting #1: Stories, language and framing
In this first Sighting, we reflect on the role that stories, language and framing will play as we decide, as a society, how to rebuild. Observation The stories we tell now about how society is responding to COVID-19 will shape how we look back on this time and...
