Late last year, 2018, I'd just left a job that I loved to start a new job that I wasn't so sure about.The saving grace of the new job is that I only worked at it for 4 days a week, which gave me a whole glorious day (4 every month!) to think about what I really wanted.
I spent this day swimming, walking, feeling very smug about not working on a weekday, and meeting pensioners in saunas (usually by accident, I promise!). All of these things left me with headspace to realise a few things:
- I really like working part-time.
- I loved the model that my old job was based upon, drawing on co-production, holistic support, and a non-negotiable expectation of utter transparency.
- There were things that were getting in the way of that model working properly, and I thought that I could now pinpoint what they were, and even figure out what I might be able to do about some of them given the opportunity.
From these reflections, a little idea took root in my head, and began to grow with the tenacity of some kind of hardy weed.
I wanted to found a Discovery College, an international model of mental health service for children and young people.
By the time I got to December, I knew that I couldn't sit on this idea forever, and decided to sound it out with some people I trust.
I took my thoughts off to my (utterly indispensable) Action Learning Set. For those who don't know, an Action Learning Set is a safe, confidential space where you can raise ideas or challenges with a group to receive support and most importantly questions to shape your thinking (advice is strictly banned!). This Action Learning Set in particular was put together by the Dream Queen Emmy O'Shaugnessy, Director of Ark-T, to provide a space for women leaders, particularly those in senior positions in the charity sector, to find peer support and inspiration. I pitched my idea of a new mental health charity to the group and braced myself for some brutal home truths about it being over-ambitious, unnecessary, or arrogant. They didn't come. Instead, that group asked some very perceptive questions about my motivations and the practicalities of a project of this scale, and ultimately gave me a serious helping of support, encouragement, and empowerment.
I left that session with a commitment to at least give this 'setting up a charity' business a go. If it fails I've been reliably told that there's no shame in that, and if it succeeds I've contributed to a cause that I care passionately about.
So this is my journey; there's still a bit to catch you up on, but I'm sure soon enough you wont be able to stop me talking about my mad idea of an Oxfordshire Discovery College...!
