You may have noticed I and the Discovery College have been keeping a low profile for the last month or so. This has been very much intentional, and is set to continue for a while longer, but I wanted to pop up (Meerkat-like) to explain why, before we go back to temporary radio-silence...
When Covid-19 landed on our doorstep and the country was put into increasing phases of 'lockdown', I felt mingled feelings of both exasperation and relief. After many months of planning, our facilitators had just delivered the very first session of our very first pilot in Witney. We'd made public commitments to delivering 7 pilots over the course of 2020, and had been starting to develop our fundraising strategy and efforts. We were also about to have 2 interns join us from the University of Oxford for 2 weeks to put together a comms strategy.
And then the world stopped.
It felt like a really pivotal point for the Discovery College of gathered momentum and increasing recognition, and we just had to put the brakes on, hard. The relief I felt, however, is that I really could just wind up all operations and put them on ice - the fantastic facilitators were working for us on a freelance basis, and were happy to suspend their work until later in the year, and there are no other paid staff or ongoing service commitments to muddle through or try to support or honour. Compared to many of my friends and peers, I and the college got off incredibly lightly. We have the luxury of just waiting until this all blows over.
However, it's felt a little like having a stone in your shoe - there's this work that I'm incredibly passionate about and is arguably needed more than ever, which I simply can't get to or fulfil right now. But I made a choice - a choice to create space for the Discovery College's counterparts, sister-charities, and other vital organisations and services. To create space for my friends and peers, doing Herculean jobs of keeping the wheels on their organisations, and keeping both their staff and people using their services safe and well. This is why we've effectively dropped off the map for a little while. We aren't bidding for any Covid-19 funds, despite knowing that we'd be able to use our expertise to create offerings relevant to the current community needs, because other organisations need this work and funding more than us right now, and have infrastructure in place to do a bloody good job of it. Our Host Partner, Elmore, are up to their eyeballs supporting not just their clients but collaborating and pitching in with other Oxfordshire Mental Health Partnership services to ensure no one gets overlooked, so they don't need us hanging on their coat-tails asking for back-office support. And we're halted all of our comms plans except basic social media updates, to avoid drawing attention from the voices that need most to be heard right now.
All we're doing at the moment is reading up on our model, developing plans for our culture and ethos, learning from the fantastic example of others, and writing funding bids that may not come to fruition until the Autumn. But let me be clear that we are no less committed to our cause. This is not apathy or a winding down of our drive towards our goals, we're simply getting out of the way so that the most vital work, right at this moment, can continue.
We'll keep you up to date about upcoming news, including our plans for the Coast to Coast fundraiser that's due to take place in May. And in the mean time, we're sending so much love to the sector, and telling all of our friends and counterparts that we are so proud and in awe of the heart-led and innovative work you're all doing. You are making the difference, and I can't wait to see you all in person when we're able to, offer you a cup of tea, and tell you just how amazing you've been.
Sending a big virtual hug to all!
Laura
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