This week, BUD celebrated the graduation our first Tribe of participants for our course, Lead Positive Change. It was so satisfying to see how much each and every participant grew. It was especially gratifying to see how participants improved in different ways. For some, it was a matter of having confidence in their own vision and ideas. For others, it was a matter of clarifying their ideas so they could move forwards and develop them further. Other participants found it useful to speak to like-minded individuals, build networks and explore how they can collaborate the realise the change they wanted to see in their local community.
The graduation event, held at Impact Hub Brixton, gave each participant an opportunity to pitch their community project idea for funding. It was great to see people putting what they had learnt from the course into action and presenting their ideas convincingly and with confidence. Though all the pitches were fantastic, it was Alys from Library of Things who was awarded £250 of funding to host “mending parties” throughout the year. Alys’ idea is brilliant; Library of Things is a hub for community members to share skills, items and get to know each other by organising events.
As well as the participants, the BUD team learnt a lot over the course our pilot of Lead Positive Change. We love learning alongside our clients and collaborators through honest feedback on their experiences working with BUD. The graduation event was no exception. It presented a valuable opportunity to group participants together and allow them to reflect on how they found the course as a whole. We especially liked hearing constructive feedback that we’ll use to improve the Lead Positive Change experience as well as look at how we might carry what we’ve learnt into the wider BUD organisation – but we’ll update you with that as it comes!
For now, we want to extend our sincerest congratulations to Tribe One. Now that you’re ready to put your ideas into action, we wish you the best of luck with your community project! Stay confident and stay in touch!