Social Justice
Working towards a fairer society has been key to Dartington’s work for almost 100 years: we established one of the first sheltered housing sites; hosted discussions central to the birth of a national health service; brought together children from very diverse backgrounds to live and learn together; researched the impact of institutions for vulnerable young children and led the change of national policy on supporting vulnerable families and adults. Today we are an independent, challenging and powerful voice, focused on leading social change. A set of core enterprises are complemented by other activities, all of which are described in the inserts of this folder. Creative links with the Arts and Sustainability programmes at Dartington are an important part of strengthening and extending our work and reach. We want to make a difference to people – locally and nationally. We want to tackle problems from new angles and share our knowledge about what works best. We are always interested in comments and suggestions about our current work and work that we could do, perhaps with others, in the future. Offering your support is one of the best ways of helping us to improve our work and reach more people. If you have a contribution to make – an idea, volunteering time or financial help – then please contact us at:
socialjustice@dartington.org
‘To respect the individual, to treat each day as a new opportunity for some creative experiment...’ Leonard Elmhirst, co-founder of modern Dartington, in 1939
Abundant Life
Abundant Life ‘Because if the spirit is not fed it will die.’ Dorothy Elmhirst talking about Leonard Elmhirst’s vision for Dartington When thinking of our older age, no doubt we hope for good physical and mental health, to share and embrace our lifetime of knowledge and experience, and for others to seek it from us. Based on the Elmhirst philosophy ‘that an abundant life is a happy life’, Dartington is working with its local community to create a new conversation around and provision for older age. Nearly 25% of the UK population is now over the age of 65; this emerging demographic challenges us to think differently about older age, what it brings and what it can be – for older people and for society. The Dartington Hall Trust plans to develop, on the old Dartington Hall school site at Foxhole, a residential community for people over the age of 55. Where residents, whatever their income and needs, will play an important part in the wider community and keep active, busy and full of purpose. Residents will receive first class support for life if and when they require it and will be encouraged to fully engage with the activities in and beyond the project. The scheme will also contribute to
the vitality of the local community and we will continue to seek input from that local community as well as potential residents. For example: The buildings needed to support this vision of a strong, engaged, community will take time to realise. Meanwhile, we are keen to capture the spirit of the project and already run a series of lectures and activities through the project. Foxhole Community Garden has been established on-site and is run by volunteers from the local community and those interested in the scheme. We also run Singing for the Brain in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society; when asking the volunteers and staff what they think Singing for the Brain is, they said that it stimulates parts of the brain, opens pathways and helps people to express themselves. A participant with dementia said ‘It brings you joy, doesn’t it?’. We hope to start a dance group in 2012 and maybe Tai Chi before that.
www.dartington.org/abundant-life
photo: Alastair Begley
‘Knowing what works and what doesn’t work is crucial to anybody organising services for children.’ Stephen Scott, Professor of Child Health and Behaviour The best decisions are those that are informed; research in practice aims to improve life chances for children, young people and their families by building capacity for evidence-informed practice. That is, practice that is informed by evidence about the services, interventions and approaches that work. If a family needed medical help for a child, they’d expect health professionals to be drawing on research into the condition, diagnosis, prognosis and effective treatment. research in practice brings the same approach to social care, education and other services for families. Over a hundred organisations, including local authorities, voluntary sector organisations and other public sector bodies, subscribe to research in practice. Real innovation in bridging the gap between research and practice comes from sector-led change, where organisations work together to share their knowledge, experience and approaches to then move forward together. research in practice provides support for developing professionals' skills, increasing knowledge and helping to build organisational cultures that embed evidence-informed practice.
research in practice do this by providing: • multi-media publications • learning events, workshops, courses and e-learning • networking activity to support knowledge and skills exchange • collaborative action learning projects • website resources • tailored in-house support for subscribing organisations • REASoN – a research and evaluation service for the sector. For example: A recent collaborative learning project looked at how to support young people’s engagement in learning. research in practice brought together a group of professionals from 13 local authorities. They looked together at the research and they each carried out a local project designed to improve practice or planning, informed by the research. Based on the findings they then produced a set of research-rich and practice-focussed guidance materials for use by organisations nationwide.
www.rip.org.uk www.twitter.com/researchip
photo: Alice Carfrae
‘It’s not enough to be busy, we need to know what we are achieving.’ Jo Fox Taking time to reflect, to meet with peers to discuss and share experiences, is invaluable to the research in practice for adults network and empowers individuals to move forward with confidence. research in practice for adults promotes the use of evidence-informed policy and practice in adult health and social care. The aim is to help their partners to use evidence, from research and other sources, to improve outcomes for service users and carers who require the support of adult social care services. This support is provided to older people, people with learning disabilities, mental health problems, physical disabilities or sensory impairment. Research shows that using evidence supports practitioners to be confident and competent. Evidence-informed practice helps practitioners to understand, to weigh up information and to continuously improve and develop. It puts them in touch with others who are interested in what works. research in practice for adults supports the development of evidence-informed practice through a programme of learning
events, publications, the development of learning tools and by creating networks where partners can share their knowledge and experience. For example: research in practice for adults was approached to find out what research says about the impact of a new governmental policy on re-ablement schemes (an approach to supporting people to learn, or relearn, skills required to live independently). A search revealed very little research or practice knowledge in this area. Therefore, research in practice for adults organised and facilitated a virtual group of representatives from different agencies with experience in the subject area to share their learning. All those participating in the knowledge exchange, especially the person who had originally requested the support, found the process extremely helpful.
www.ripfa.org.uk www.changecards.org.uk www.twitter.com/ripfa
photo: Fergus Bisset
‘Everyone has the capacity to be remarkable.’ Michael Young (Lord Young of Dartington), Founder of the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) Social entrepreneurs have the drive and tenacity characteristic of successful business people, but their motivation is to make a positive difference alongside any profit. They put purpose before product and are often to be found leading innovative organisations or ground-breaking projects that benefit the community and environment where they live and work. For social entrepreneurs, untapped markets are people or communities in need, who haven’t been reached by other initiatives. The Devon School for Social Entrepreneurs provides training and opportunities which enable people to use their creative and entrepreneurial abilities more fully for social benefit. Devon School for Social Entrepreneurs was set up at Dartington in 2009 and is one of ten schools in the UK and beyond.
Since 1997 the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) has helped hundreds of individuals nationwide to realise their potential, start new initiatives and make a positive difference. SSE achieves this through offering programmes of action-learning tailored to the characteristics of social entrepreneurs. Programmes are built on learning by doing, an approach that emphasises experience, experimentation and the personal needs of each student: working in practice, not theory. For example: The Devon School for Social Entrepreneurs has given Mitchel Knight (2010 Fellow) the skills to build his business, Pumpitlouder; which boosts young people’s confidence and self awareness through creating and recording music. www.pumpitlouder.co.uk
www.sse.org.uk/devon
photo: Kate Mount
Is our world becoming more just, or less? We think that justice matters – that trying to be fair is the right thing to do, that greater equality makes life better for all of us and that everyone should be able to live fulfilling lives. These are big themes; ones that we believe we should work at creatively and collaboratively, with others where that will help us make more difference more quickly. It is these aspirations that shape our work programmes, our ways of working and our approach to everyone we meet. The Social Justice Programme is a continuation of a long and proud tradition at Dartington.
www.dartington.org/socialjustice email: socialjustice@dartington.org
The Social Justice programme is a department of The Dartington Hall Trust registered in England as a company limited by guarantee and a charity. The Social Justice Programme The Granary Dartington Hall Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EE 01803 847000 Company number 1495560 Charity number 279756 Design by Atwork: www.atworkportfolio.co.uk