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.
A letter from Birmingham
In brief On the 12th July 2024, 120 relationship-centred practitioners came together in Birmingham to explore how we can change our permissions to put relationships first. It was a day full of relationships, new and old, solidarity and celebration. Here, we offer our...
Ten Top Tips for working with new governments
In brief In a breakout session at the Changing our Permissions event on July 12th we discussed working with the new government. We heard from Rob Mc Cabe about his experience of working on changing systems with the Birmingham Pathfinder team and others contributed...
Hearts vs handbooks? Relationship-centred practice in schools
In brief In this blog, Verity Howorth - Relationships Collective member and Director of Training at Reach Foundation - speaks to Jonathan Black, Headteacher at Bridgewater College Academy, about the need to centre relationships in our schools. Only by doing so, they...
Revolution, from the group up
In brief As an election looms David Robinson reflects, in this very personal blog, on the stories of relationship centred-practitioners as told in our the Relationships Case Maker. Faraway from Westminster and Whitehall, he says, the relationship-centred revolution is...
Changing our permissions
In brief Every community and every organisation is shaped by norms, assumptions and rules. They condition our behaviour, determine what is and is not permissible, and mould our relationships. Here, David Robinson discusses changing our permissions; a theme that we...
Relationships Learning Network Update
In brief In this blog, Neil Denton gives an update on the Relationships Learning Network which gathered for the first time in September 2023. Neil outlines some common areas of interest and interdisciplinary interest and invites you to join us in strengthening links...
Pattern Library Update
In November 2023, we shared our very early stage thinking around a Pattern Library for Relationship-Centred Practice and invited anyone who was interested to join us in developing the idea. Through their thoughtful feedback and ideas, our Critical Friends have brought...
What we mean by relationship-centred practice
Key Concepts | What we mean by relationship-centred practiceRelationship-Centred Practice puts relationships first. It unlocks potential and meets need by positioning meaningful and effective relationships as the first order goal, both an end in itself and the means...
What we mean by good relationships
Key Concepts | What we mean by good relationshipsWe often use the word ‘relationship’ to mean different things – from the relationship we might have with our bank to the relationship we might have with a family member. To draw out what we mean by good relationships,...
My barber: Putting relationships first
Last week David Robinson wrote about the failures of the Post Office and the implications of putting relationships last. This week he reflects on the success of a very different kind of business.Putting relationships first I don’t spend a lot of money on my hair, but...
