DECEMBER 2023
COMPASSIONATE COMMUNITIES UK NEWS
The compassion movement is growing! What a year! You’ll read in our review of 2023 some of our activities over the past 12 months and a preview of what’s happening in 2024. We are seeing a growing recognition across the UK and internationally, that social connectedness is key to health and wellbeing. The research is backing up what we all known and feel and this mean more people than ever are interested in how to find, grow, create, support compassionate communities. This is really exciting and you are all part of that movement. Thank you for your interest and support in 2023 and we look forward to ongoing conversations and engagement in the year to come.
This issue: Review of 2023 PAGE 02 Conference 2024 PAGE 03 Upcoming Projects PAGE 04 New Courses PAGE 05 Coming Next PAGE 06
Director of CCUK
PAGE 01
Review of 2023 and a look ahead to 2024 One of the interesting things about being involved in the Compassionate Communities movement is not always knowing where a year will take us, what new people we’ll meet or places we’ll engage with. We made the difficult decision to postpone our 2023 conference, however we had a brilliant one day event in Birmingham. I continue to be impressed by the range of work and level of commitment from the teams involved in Compassionate Birmingham. We also launched a new programme Foundation Certificate in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Palliative and End of Life Care - we massively appreciate the support of our expert panel and delivery team as well as our cohort of learners. Tackling the social injustice of not only access to good end of life care but also the assumptions made by healthcare institutions remains a key cornerstone of our work for 2024 and beyond.
“I love working with the team at CCUK, every idea is valued, the work is interesting and above all it feels good to be changing lives” CLARE RAWLINGS
We’re working with several new areas in the UK and overseas to support place based approaches to the Compassionate City / Community Charter and we always enjoy meeting people and hearing about their work and the treasures in their community. We launched our first learning exchange between Brereton and Ravenhill in Staffordshire and Matsuzaki in Japan. This is part of a growing connection between CCUK and the team committed to Compassionate Matsuzaki and Compassionate Japan. Clare Rawlings has joined the CCUK team of Julian, Emma, Faye and Jenni. Clare is helping with trust fundraising and some new areas of work during 2024. Clare is the founder of Raw Movement and has an interest in how social connectedness and movement combine. With a growing team and an increasing number of programmes and partnerships, we are looking forward to 2024 as a time of connection, community and compassion. More about our projects and events on the following pages.
PAGE 02
Celebrating Community 2024 We are really excited about our conference. The line up is looking fantastic and we decided that our conference should showcase community. Keynotes include Professor Allan Kellehear and Dr Christian Ntizimira, We have some fantastic ‘on the sofa with’ panel discussions on bereavement and approaches to community development. We have a discussion with representatives from our first international knowledge exchange between Brereton and Ravenhill in Staffordshire and Matsuzaki in Japan. We are also holding a World Cafe discussion around compassionate communities more generally to share stories and practice based examples and we have a really interesting range of presentations which will be held as round table conversations. We have two social events on offer, for early arrivals a tour of the National Memorial Arboretum and after day 1 of the conference a stroll on Cannock Chase (an area of outstnading natural beauty) for those who want to, and a barbeque (we have we weather plans!). Hosted by a community venue in the heart of the forest. We are able to offer online tickets for people who can’t be with us in person.
“I'm eager to contribute to what promises to be an enriching and innovative conference” DR CHRISTIAN NTIZIMIRA Founder/Executive Director or the African Centre of Research on End of Life Care (ACREOL). A non-profit organisation bringing socio-cultural equality through Ubuno in End of Life Care
tickets are on sale! For more information:- https://compassionatecommunitiesuk.com/conference2024/
Main Sponsor Marie Curie is a registered charity in England and Wales (207994) and Scotland (SC038731)
PAGE 03
New Projects Talk, Listen, Connect We are in the process of piloting our new Citizen Connector programme. Talk, Listen, Connect. This builds on the community connectors from the Frome model and provides an opportunity for a scaling up of citizen led engagement and grief literacy. We are looking for pilot areas so if you want to know more, get in touch.
Research Academy Earlier this year we launched a Research Academy chaired by Professor Allan Kellehear, to influence the research agenda in health-related community development and public health palliative care, to positively influence, increase, and support a new generation of palliative care researchers in universities and colleges in the UK and abroad and to provide research, policy, and practice consultancy for education, training, and research needs to those who seek these forms of support from CCUK. More news during 2024
A Six Gems Approach to tackling the impact of chronic disease This work which we’ve piloted internationally, is demonstrating some spectacular results. We are looking to work with partners who want to transform their approach to chronic disease management OR citizen groups who want to take back control of their lives following the diagnosis of a chronic disease.
PAGE 04
New Courses Frome - “the town that cured loneliness” Due to an incredible level of interest, we have launched a new course, similar to the Compassionate City Foundation Programme but focused on the project in Frome, Somerset. Dr Frances da Cunha who has been working the ‘Frome way’ in West Mendip, Somerset for six years is co-delivering the programme. The focus is population wide, whilst of course people who are impacted by death, dying and loss are part of the community. This programme is not centred around palliative and end of life care and is suitable for anyone interested in health and wellbeing, primary care and community development. Read more HERE
A Compassionate Communities Approach to Bereavement We’ve also had lots of interest from people who want to better understand how communities can support each other when it comes to bereavement. Nikki Archer who is a thought leader about alternative models of bereavement support is delivering a three part programme aiming to help rethink and reorientate how bereavement support can happen. This is part of a wider initiative to support community sources of bereavement support. To book or find out more click HERE
PAGE 05
Calendar of Events 12th January - our new webinar series kicks off 18th January - start of A Compassionate Communities Approach to Bereavement 23rd January - new cohort of Public Health Palliative Care for member of the Multi-Disciplinary Team 25th January - new Think Tank series starts 30th January - Frome Programme starts 7th February - new cohort for Foundation Certificate in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Palliative and End of Life Care starts For the full calendar please visit our events page here And of course, don’t forget our conference 2nd and 3rd July 2024 - find out more here
PAGE 06