Blogs from SajeImpact
I have been trying to move into the next season of life for the last 18 months. Like many people Covid-19 has altered things a little!
However, dsepite a slight set back I am not fully committed to stepping back from the day to day work at Saje Impact and instead will be concentraing my time on some of the big projects, strategy work and supporting the voluntary boards and NED roles I have undertaken in recent years.
Perhaps this short 90 second video explains the journey better than I can.
As i have written before I am not one to make too many New Years resolutions although I do find the period between Christmas and New Year a good time to reflect.
This year is different of course, because our confidence in our own planning will have been rocked by how 2020 turned out!
We had all sorts of plans; an 18th Birthday party, a wedding in the family, A-level and Final year Law exams, a big family holiday and a daughter heading onto University and a son entering the jobs market. Add on top of that plans to slow down and ‘retire’ Saje Impact. I think you can guess most of the list for 2020 never happened. (although thankfully heading to University and finally landing a potential job for our children did fall into place - just)
Re-inventing our neighbourhoods and High Streets - why we back the “15 Minute neighbourhoods” concept.
For us our work at SajeImpact around Physical Activity and economic regeneration has come together during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
The changes in work practises and shopping habits (changing over a longer period of time), the decline of the commute and the supposed drive at the end of Summer to get people back into our cities has drawn attention to the possibility that there is a different way to live our lives.
It does not mean these changes are easy or without pain but what if we could embrace the end of the commute into the City and help regenerate our local neighbourhood. What if we could reshape the declining retail High Street with a far more inviting leisure, recreational and retail offer? What if.
Working with 'hard to reach' communities is a phrase that is widely used in the Sport for Development sector and it’s one that we’ve used at the Trust for a number of years without really challenging what it means. Recently Tim Hollingsworth, Chief Executive of Sport England, shared a story about visiting a centre in a 'hard to reach' community in Oldham, where the local leader told him: “We are not hard to reach. We have been here for 20 years. You’ve just never tried”.
I returned from a welcome break in Anglesey in August thinking ahead to a post Covid world and what our futures would look like. At the stage I wrote this below we didn’t know our daughters A level results, how Universities would open up, how this SajeImpact business would be working. I will reflect on what I wrote in August at the end of November and see how it fared!
Getting into the ‘room’ wherever that may be for you or your career is hard. But what you do when you get there is more important.
I use the phrase - If you are in the room you deserve to be there so have confidence and use your presence.
I am not particularly good at anything specific. But I have managed to do quite a bit in my life - well beyond my abilities so I have used the last couple of years exploring why and how!
Having spoken to people to critically appraise me I have come to fairly simple conclusions.
It is about self confidence, engagement, self deprecating humour, interest in others, and positivity
https://psiloveyou.xyz/how-to-radiate-confidence-without-doing-a-lot-of-work-fc9bcdef4737
Lockdown 2 has enabled me to set out some new personal targets and one has been to find more time to read and write. So here I am. I know throughout the day have multiple thoughts and inspirations. In fact I have too many and therefore I don’t manage to share these thoughts in a way that I may find useful and perhaps some others may find of use!
In response I am going to change the way I blog - by posing more questions rather than wanting to write perfectly thought through 1000 word blogs!
For those of us who serve on Boards the last few months during #lockdown have challenges many of our norms. How often have we heard the cry from our colleagues about being zoomed out?
The pattern of Board meetings has certainly changed in my experience over the last few months and some of the lessons learned are really positive - like less travel, better attendance, flexibility of timings for meetings. At the same time many bemoan the loss of the personal interactions before and after Board meetings, the reading of body language and the fatigue of concentrating on video conferences.
I was cleaning up my old website this morning (another of those #Lockdown jobs that has finally been completed) and I cam across the post and blog I did below.
Guess what. Whilst I love to think I have this work/life balance thing under control seeing this from 2013 and comparing to life in lockdown. I have finally found a new rhythm to life which is far more realistic to making a life - not a living.
At the start of the year we had already decided at SajeImpact to change course a little. After starting the business in 2010 I had wanted to maintain a wide interest in various policy areas. I had always been involved in Economic regeneration, economic policy, international development, good global governance, wellbeing as well as my main expertise in sport and physical activity policy . Over the decade we became increasingly known for our sport and physical activity work as we specialised.
We had increasingly taken a greater interest in the local economy by volunteering to serve on the Local Enterprise partnership for Leicestershire (LLEP) and later last year became the Deputy Chair. As usual this leads to other appointments - including the Loughborough Town Deal Partnership board. I have gone full circle. I chaired a similar Board as a Councillor on Charnwood in 1995 when Loughborough was awarded economic regeneration cash too and I was Chair of the Economic Development Committee.
There are so many challenges hitting the sports sector at the moment it's difficult to keep up with one issue per month in this column! However, there is one that I am hoping will dominate Board discussions this year is governance – specifically diversity on Boards.
Sport England & UK Sport quite rightly have highlighted improved governance as a key component of improving the sports landscape and long term sustainability.
So much of our world has been confusing in recent weeks. Even by the madness of Brexit since 2016 this last period has been quite extraordinary.
But this last week has caused me to shout out in anger too often.
I want to be reflective and as I said recently be more outspoken on things that matter - whilst doing it in a way that allows us all to disagree well.
In the UK my patience has been tested. We have a government that is playing with the population over its handling of the Coronavirus.
In the US the murder of George Floyd has rightly caused international condemnation and a massive rise in protests and some hope that Racism has been etched into the public discourse.
Quite rightly sports stars, teams and brands joined in the #blacklivesmatter and #blackouttuesday trends this week. Stars like Lewis Hamilton speaking out about their rage mean fans are reminded that racism isn't just a US problem.
Let us be really honest with ourselves. We have not rooted out racism in British sport. We cannot be complacent.
The highest profile cases are usually when something happens in football and these hit the back and sometimes front pages. There is always a cry of ‘something must be done’ and some short term high profile action follows. It happens in the domestic leagues and the international game.
During the Covid-19 crisis we have had to re-think a lot of what we take for granted.
For those who thrive on social connectivity this Lockdown will have been hard. I regarded myself as one of those but I think I have discovered something new about my ability to slow down and even stop.
Coming out of Lockdown it has been suggested that we might be allowed to socialise with up to 10 people at a time. Who would you choose in your top 10 friends and family? No Really who would you choose?
The campaign to keep the nation active during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, Join the Movement, continued today with the launch of a television advert.
Made entirely with self-shot videos from members of the public embodying our #StayInWorkOut motto, the ad has been backed by the likes of triathletes Alistair and Jonny Brownlee, Strictly Come Dancing's Karen Hauer, ex-England footballer Kelly Smith and former European 10,000m champion Jo Pavey.
A recent post by UKActive and the CMO causes quite a bit of a stir last week.
As most people know I am a consistent and passionate believer in the need for the nation to be more physically active. I recognised some years ago that physical activity was being designed out of our lives and was having a detrimental effect on our health and wellbeing. I have pushed the agenda at every opportunity over the last 20 years.
However, my wife suffers from #ME and I have learned a lot about this condition over the last 5 years. We need to educate the Physical Activity Sector about #ME and other conditions.
One of the big areas of policy where I want t spend more time is the work on the economy and social justice.
Once again nothing I am doing is absolutely new and I have been talking to Paul Lindley about some of these ideas after he kindly shared his latest blog. Likewise Pul is not new to these ideas but perhaps the Coronavirus has created space for more people to think about not rushing back to Business as usual
Paul Lindley - Learnings and ideas on the Way we Could Do Business after eh COVID-19 crisis
I started my one journey on this topic in my first ever job, in economic regeneration at Leicester City Council. And now 30 years later I find myself retiring and spending voluntary time on our local LLEP once again trying to balance the local economy to serve both business, people and the environment.
Like Paul, what my 30 years in public life and as a small business is that trickle down economics doesn’t work and that business has responsibilities beyond the short term goals of their shareholders.
So over the next period Saje Impact will be spending equal amounts of time between campaigning on the issues of physical activity and a new economic settlement. As many will know the two issues are interdependent and not mutually exclusive.
I have been a long time advocate of systems thinking, almost to the point that I sometimes forget we don’t all think like this yet!
Fortunately in the sport strategic work I have been doing with DCMS and Sport England and the CSPs (now Active Partnerships) this is now almost taken for granted in most conversations.
When I come across work that really makes the case and makes it sound so easy I feel the need to share.
I really enjoy the work of NPC and this blog by Seth Reynolds is a great introduction to making the case that Systems thinking is no longer a luxurious add on!
Have a read and let me know what you think.
Everywhere you look people are writing about life after the Coronavirus pandemic. For many there is a rush to get back to normal as quickly as possible. However, for Saje Impact it has been the moment to stop reflect and redirect our passions.
Friends and those who follow our story will know that 2020 was supposed to be the year of change and a new season anyway. However, one of my greatest weaknesses is the inability to say no and focus on one or two projects. This is why the ‘retirement’ wasn’t going very well. I was just filling up anytime I got back with other ideas, projects and passions.
The last few weeks have been a wake up call. It has felt like a mini rehearsal for a more balanced / retired life that I was hoping to create anyway. And guess what. I enjoy it. I would like to be doing a bit more of the travel and networking but I have really coped with slowing down and even enjoying a bit more gardening!
I have been lazy in capturing and honing my thoughts and observations on life. As I move into the next phase of my own life (not retirement) I have more time for reflection and want to share my random thoughts more widely. The mini blogs below are definitely a work in progress not the finished article. I need feedback and comments to help me adjust and broaden my thinking and perspective. So don’t hold back. Check and challenge.
