Skip to the content
by Phil Wood Some years ago I worked for the Churches National Housing Coalition. Our logo consisted of a rather stylized cityscape. Our witty architect criticized it on the basis that if it were actually built it would fall down. I’ve always had a liking for maps and charts. They set my imagination racing over […]
by Mike Pepler Although I was already well aware of current climate science, reading reading Jem Bendell’s paper on Deep Adaption prompted me to take time out to think about how the current situation and risk of climate/ecosystem collapse fitted in with my faith. I’m writing from the perspective of a privileged white male in […]
Part 1/3 by Ray Leonard These are difficult and dynamic times, as the pandemic sweeps through communities across the globe, killing hundreds of thousands and making millions ill. Domestically, we might feel we’re entering a new phase, but, globally, health systems are still being overwhelmed, state and charitable responses stretched to the limit in a […]
by Heather When I knew I’d be moving to Leek, I looked on Facebook for a Covid mutual aid group — having been a volunteer for the one in Sunderland. Survive Together <green heart symbol> Leek looked really active. I spoke to Grace Buckley in July. Here are excerpts from what she said. We weren’t […]
by Elsie I am part of a new youth activist group called Radical Restart. Most Sunday nights, we have film nights on Zoom. And the films are really interesting. This time, it was a film about how bad the education system is in the US. It was really interesting. Talking about, mostly, how similar schools […]
by Elsie The garden, upon moving in, was rather… what’s the right word? Wild. It was a forest and a jungle… let me explain. Along the side of the house, there is a dark and mysterious path leading from the garden to the road. When you walk into the garden one way or another, you […]
by Heather Casa Laura is named after St Laura of Colombia (born in 1874), who is Colombia’s first saint. In Catholicism, a saint’s feast day is the anniversary of their death. Laura Montoya died on 21st October 1949, aged 75. The 21st of October happens to be the birthdate of my daughter and the birthdate […]
by Phil Wood In 1978 Jim Callaghan was Prime Minister. I escaped to the hills. Perhaps 9 weeks of Mull of Kintyre drove me to it! I came with my cello loving friend, Ian Cree, walking the Peak District; coffee and theology in the Buxton tearooms. I’m a pedestrian, so rarely enthuse about roads. But, […]
by Elsie Luna (age 11) There is no simple answer. When I was younger, my family and I hosted refugees and asylum seekers, along with people from around Europe for one month each. The experience of having other people, and new people, around is always amazing: you can learn new skills, do stuff with new […]
by Heather 1996. My own Catholic Worker journey begins in New York City. Working for the AIDS organisation, God’s Love We Deliver, as a volunteer intake assistant. We train up people to take on cooking roles, and phone roles, and delivery roles: the goal being to feed homebound people with AIDS. Simultaneously, I begin a […]
What can we learn from mutual aid and disability justice siblings about support pods and how best to take care of one another and keep each other as safe as possible? What is it about our dominant culture that makes it hard for so many of us to even just knock on our neighbour’s door? We spend two hours exploring examples and our (somatic) responses to them. Plenty of breakout rooms and a midway dance break.
When harm occurs within a community, what is the healthy response? We will look at the advice in Harper & Biel’s book, How to Be Accountable and see how it lands in our bodies and minds. We’ll have breakout rooms and a dance break at the midway point of our two-hour time together.
With so much scrutiny of the police, what is justice? What is wrong with the current system and what is meant by restorative and transformational justice? This workshop just seeks to take the very first steps toward exploring these huge issues… We all get to start at square one, with loads of breakout rooms and a dance break at the midway point of the two hours. We’ll keep checking in with our bodies to stay connected and grounded in where we’re at with these huge issues.
Our dominant culture is uneasy about uncertain about the future. We want answers now. We want solutions. We want guarantees. What is this mindset about? What do we need to explore in order to be more open to other ways of viewing the future? How does this play out in the context of climate change, ecological destruction, and collapse-driven narratives? Through a combination of prompts, breakout rooms, somatic exercises, and a midway dance break… over two hours, we start the exploration together.
How do we talk about hope? What do we mean and does it depend on the context? And what does our philosophy about hope and use of the word say about our own privilege? How do the two interact? Does it reflect on our culture, our language? We will explore this over two hours, with somatic exercises and breakout rooms, plus the midway point dance break.
What is tone policing? In other words, what is it about our dominant culture that expects people to “be nice” before they can say something uncomfortable for others to hear? How does this perpetuate separation when we so badly need a world where we take care of one another and keep each other as safe as possible? We spend two hours going through this slowly, somatically, with breakout rooms and a dance break at the midway point.
With all the diversity in the world, why is just one language seen as the common language? English dominates globally. Even in conferences where no one has English as their first language, English is used to communicate amongst people who speak many different languages. What do we lose when we allow this domination? What languages have we lost in our family tree? Explore these questions over two hours, through somatic exercises and breakout sessions. We’ll have a dance break at the midway point.
What does cultural appropriation? What is the difference between appreciation, sharing, and appropriation? What is it about the dominant white culture that leads to appropriation? Let’s explore this over two hours, with lots of somatic work and breakout rooms, plus the midway dance break.
What if we believe the stereotypes about our different identities? About what “women are like” or “men are like” or “children are like” or “blind people are like”? How does this show up? And is it confusing for people who do not have that identity to see this happening? Let’s explore this over two hours, with plenty of somatic exercises and breakout rooms, plus a dance break at the midway point.
As a Latina, Heather shares what she considers to be good allyship. If she saw you interrupting racism or sexism or ablism or any kind of oppression at all, what qualities would she expect to see? During the two hours, she takes you through the qualities, offers breakout rooms for processing and reflection, somatic exercises so we don’t over-intellectualise, and a dance break at the midway point. All questions welcome.
What does it mean to be nonviolent in a violent world? What is violence and what is nonviolence? Who is perpetrating the violence? What does a commitment to nonviolence look like when we live in this world? We’ll explore these questions over two hours, with plenty of somatic exercises and breakout sessions, and a dance break at the midway point.
What do we mean by eco-fascism? Is it being used too much or too little? We will spend the two hours going over examples of language being used in common places, like Facebook groups, which threaten to normalise ecofascism. This two-hour workshop is about strengthening our capacity to notice narratives that are willing to sacrifice some humans/living species/ecosystems for the benefit a small number of privileged people. We will use somatic exercises and breakout rooms to process and reflect, with a dance break at the midway point.
How do cult dynamics show up in society, organisations, movements, and movements? When attended as a stand-alone workshop, we spend the first hour reviewing Tema Okun‘s white supremacy culture patterns. The second hour goes over Cult Research‘s characteristics of cults. Breakout rooms opened throughout to allow for processing and reflection. Dance break at the halfway mark, and somatic reminders throughout. When this is part two of a workshop series, more time is given for reflection on the dynamics and how they play out in own situations.
Tema Okun suggests 15 patterns of white supremacy culture. We go through each one over two hours, stopping occasionally to reflect in breakout rooms on how we see these patterns playing out in our own lives… our relationships, communities, and workplaces. Dance break at the halfway mark. Somatic reminders throughout.
