It’s just over a year since I started my role as Project Worker with the Poverty Truth Commission, it has gone so fast, and I’ve loved every minute of it. However, it hasn’t always been plain sailing, so I thought I’d share some of the challenges we have faced over the last 12 months.
The recruiting of Community Commissioners was made easier largely due to the reputation and knowledge of the staff at our host organization Durham Community Action who pointed us in the right direction when it came to who to speak to and where to hang out. However, having conversations about poverty is not an easy task and I soon learned that launching straight in was not the way forward as people often challenged me about my use of the word poverty and wouldn’t engage in conversation. I was far more successful at recruiting when I turned up regularly and consistently at local organisations, helping out, building trust and familiarity. On occasions, I encountered the lethargy and negativity of communities who, ‘have heard it all before’, ‘nothing ever changes,’ ‘what’s the point?’ I quickly learned that the Poverty Truth Commission isn’t for everybody and recognized when my conversations were futile.
Bringing a group of diverse and unique people together for the first time is a daunting and challenging prospect. Cathryn and I had many conversations around safeguarding, WhatsApp groups, consent, managing expectations, boundaries…..We weren’t too long into the process when we had to use our conflict management skills. Group dynamics had changed and some members of the group were unhappy about the behaviour of others. Managing this was a challenge especially when faced with the feelings of dread and the heart sinking moment when somebody says, ‘If they’re staying in the group then I’m leaving!’ Through reflection and conversations, we got through it and nobody left. I don’t think there’s an easy answer to managing conflict and strongly believe we had a positive outcome due to the trust and relationships we’d built with each other. Although little niggles continue to crop up from time to time I am proud to say that the only Commissioners who have left have done so for personal reasons and not because they didn’t want to be in the group anymore.
The Commissioners seemed to find it relatively easy to share their stories with each other however, pinning down what they wanted to share at the launch event was a different kettle of fish altogether. This ended up being a much longer process than anticipated with some saying they didn’t have a story or were concerned that their life hadn’t been as challenging as the next persons. Others wanted somebody else to share their words and some felt safer writing a poem of their experiences. With time and patience, 1:1 support, group work and help from a local writer, we got there in the end. It was an emotional time for all of us. Some of the Commissioners had never shared their story with anybody before but they described finding it a positive experience as it lead to them reflecting on their lives and realising just how far they’ve actually come.
Unfortunately, as the pinning down of stories was such a lengthy process, we weren’t left with enough time to bring to life some of the creative ideas the Commissioners came up with for the launch. I found this really disappointing and felt that the Commissioners had been let down – they on the other hand didn’t seem concerned at all and in hindsight maybe the fact that we didn’t have these things at the launch made the audience focus more on the stories which was what it was all about after all!
More recently, it has been a challenge to get Civic Commissioners in the room with only two there at the first meeting however, I can happily say we had seven present last week at what turned out to be a really successful gathering.
I’m sure there will be many more challenges and obstacles along the way but Cathryn and I will do what we do best, talk, talk and talk some more until we find the way forward!!
