The Bridgebuilder principles are based upon learning from Neil Denton’s Bridgebuilders Handbook. Neil walks alongside us as a learning partner.
Neil believes there is an energy within disagreement and conflict that can be a powerful force for positive change. He helps communities in conflict to find ways to solve real life problems and strengthen human relationships. He is a leader in community mediation and conflict transformation, an Independent Community Mediator, and a Professor in Practice with the After Disasters Network at Durham University. He is co-author of The Sense of Connection and the Bridge Builder’s Handbook.
https://relationshipsproject.org/embed-2/bridge-building/
We are learning to bridge divides but we know that we need to Build, Bridge and be Brave!
Recently the Gateshead Bridgebuidlers were asked to walk alongside Connected Voice, The Centre For Creative Conversation and Newcastle Bridgebuilders as they launched a new initiative to create a stronger and more connected city.
https://connectedvoice.org.uk/news-and-information/news/newcastle-community-bridgebuilders-join-new-initiative-create-stronger
Learning
Bridgebuilders learning
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Developing the first North East Deaf Festival
On 1st and 2nd November 2024 at Gosforth Civic Theatre we will be seeing the first ever North East Deaf Festival.
So what has led us here?
Relationship-centred practice
We were recently featured in The Relationships Project’s ‘Case Maker’, as a case study of relationship centred practice…
How we make decisions about money
When we describe the work of the GCB, we talk a lot about decision-making - but there are many kinds of decisions made in this group, as in any. We’ve done a lot of thinking and experimenting around how we make the different categories of decisions needed to enable the group to do its work – that is, which decisions are made by whom, and in what way, in order for the group’s work to flow smoothly.
Community Spirit, Community Power: Tackling the isolation of young Deaf people
My main focus has been mental health and deafness, including working closely with researchers from the North East Deaf network. Speaking to deaf communities it was clear that there was not a lot happening for young deaf people in Gateshead. This led us to the idea of holding a North East Deaf Festival…
Community Spirit, Community Power: Bridgebuilding Within Gateshead’s African Communities
We have several African communities living in Gateshead, along with Latina North American communities who have been relocated to the area. Between Gateshead and Newcastle, specific areas have specific communities. Bensham in Gateshead is one of the more diverse, it’s also an area in which many asylum seekers and refugees are housed. The same is true of Fenham and Byker in Newcastle…
Community Spirit, Community Power: The Power of Empathy
My name is Zahra and I am a Gateshead Community Bridgebuilder hosted by GemArts, and also a Peer Enabler based in St Chad’s Community Project, focusing on asylum seekers and refugees.
In 2020, in the peak of the pandemic, I joined a storytelling inquiry (the precursor to the peer enabler work) in which we collected about 120 stories of people who were living in Gateshead. The results of it have made me aware of the pain and difficulties going on beneath the surface of my community and neighbourhood…
Community Spirit, Community Power: The Power of Education
It's common knowledge that humanity has certain fundamental problems ignorance, poverty, separation. I want to focus on the most pressing of these issues - education. According to many sociologists and psychologists, the first pitfall of humanity is lack of education…
Community Spirit, Community Power: Diversity, Lived Experience & Representation
Early on in this work it soon became apparent that those round the table were not truly representative of our diverse communities in Gateshead. We initiated a recruitment process which was accessible, looking to identify people who were already embedded in different communities in Gateshead and who had a track record of being able to ‘make things happen’ - they were already active in their community and the Bridgebuilders role was a way of catalysing their activity rather than replacing it…
Community Spirit, Community Power: Constellations of ‘Relationships First’ Practice
I have to tell you, that Gateshead Community Bridgebuilders is something we have tried and tried really really hard at doing. It was not instantly, universally, wonderful. It is not perfect. We are a work in progress…
Community spirit, community power: the big picture
Gateshead Community Bridgebuilders are an idea: That all of our lives are richer when our communities are strong, when they are connected, and when they hold genuine power. We want local people to have the opportunities, skills, and confidence to engage in making decisions that are going to improve their lives now and in the future. What we mean by that is we want local people to have a meaningful role in their communities as decision-makers.
What do we mean by ‘bridge building’?
We describe our work in terms of ‘bridge building’ – but what does that actually mean?
The Bridgebuilder Diaries #2: Recruiting Bridgebuilders
If you’re trying to explore new and creative ways to discover what could make life better for people who experience poverty and disadvantage, if you’re trying to avoid the same old approaches that miss what matters to most people, how do you find the people who might be able to help you with this endeavour?
The Bridgebuilder Diaries #1: why do we need Bridgebuilders?
The Gateshead Community Bridgebuilder project has been running since early 2020. The work has been muddy and confusing, and we have been painstakingly wading our way through it, which has meant we have had very little time to tell other people about it. We’re starting now with this new series we’re calling ‘The Bridgebuilder Diaries’ – a retrospective of what we’ve done, what has happened, and what we’ve learnt.