We have just finished the second of our PTC 2 full commission meetings. Our first, which we had in May, was very successful. We almost had a full complement of Civic Commissioners, our Community Commissioners were on their best behaviour despite their views on the ‘suits’ and ‘higher ups’, everyone engaged in the activities, and I think, dare I say it, actually had fun!
As I’m sure I’ve mentioned in earlier blogs, I found the transition from just meeting with the Community Commissioners of PTC 1 to full Commission meetings quite a challenge. I was daunted by the Civic Commissioners and their senior roles and felt very protective of the Community Commissioners and the safe space we had created together. I was determined this time around to be more positive and confident. I focused on easing the nerves of the PTC 2 Community Commissioners and putting safety nets in place to reduce the risk of triggers and hopefully alleviate some anxieties, mine included!
As both sets of Commissioners arrived at the village hall for that first meeting on 6th May, we laughed as someone pointed out that all the Community Commissioners had sat on one side of the circle with all the Civics on the other side. Sam quickly rectified this and joined the Civics – thank you, Sam! This was the biggest PTC circle I had facilitated, and it was exciting to see all the faces as we did a round of names and introductions – the first of many times we’d be saying our names in those three hours!
We played some ‘getting to know you’ games and learned about commonalities and uniqueness within the group. Several people have been on TV, with our police representative impressing us all with his stint on Police Interceptors. Many of our males are musical and play instruments, and we have a few avid readers. We have a tarot card reader, a mother of twins and our Vicar’s uniqueness speaks for itself… he’s the only one who wears a dog collar!
It felt like a very positive 3 hours, and feedback from our Community Commissioners was……. ‘that was so much better than I thought’….. ‘they’re just like normal people, they’re human.’
Back to today’s meeting……we had faces old and new. The lovely daughter of one of our Community Commissioners joined us, Jack, who came to our first few meetings back in the Autumn, returned; it was lovely to see him again, and we had a couple of new Civic Commissioners too. I said last month’s circle was the biggest I’d facilitated; today’s beats that!
We played a portrait game before lunch and have some fantastic drawings of each other to display at our sharing event next year. This game pushed everyone out of their comfort zone, but it produced many giggles and jokes and put us all in good spirits for the rest of the meeting.
We gave the Commissioners lots of space this week to chat freely with each other, and already I can see relationships and connections starting to develop. We still have our regular escapees who will go outside at every given opportunity, but I have no doubt their confidence levels will gradually increase, and they’ll soon join in the chitchat and feel comfortable in the space.
Mike, one of our Civic Commissioners, asked an interesting question which had been playing on his mind since the first meeting. It was around the power imbalance in the room and the fact that the Community Commissioners had shared their stories and trauma, but the Civics hadn’t done this. Sam gave him a very eloquent answer about the Community Commissioners’ ask of the Civics, which is to be heard and that there are no expectations that the Civics share their stories. I also explained that my ask for everyone to bring an item which is important to them to our next meeting will facilitate the Civics to open up and share some of their lives if they wish. That session with PTC 1 was certainly a powerful turning point.
The check out at 1.30pm was positive, and already people are thinking about the sustainability of the group in the long term.
The transition has so far been smooth, and it’s great to see the passion of the Civics matching that of the Community Commissioners. We have many DH9ers in the room who are all focused on improving the lives of those living in that area and beyond. It feels hopeful!
