Cafcass 25 year celebration

This year Cafcass is 25 - lots has changed in this time, mostly for the better for children and hopefully this will continue, even as the pressure on this service continues to build.

I listened to this event as a recording and had time to think, reflect and draw. 

Not the usual mad scramble of live drawing, and I much prefer it!

Below is the full banner image with excerpts underneath. The contributions by the FJYPB https://www.cafcass.gov.uk/children-and-young-people/family-justice-young-peoples-board are my favourite and very much inform what I draw. My aim is to constantly put children and young people at the heart of these images, because their futures are dictated by the process of the family court.

University College London (UCL) Illustrating a Grand Challenges research project

This research project is a development from the previous one, Cultural Understanding:

The changing world and a lot more turbulence in the world calls for more understanding of each other both internally within the university and externally. A big 5 year project - this was a scoping exercise to advise the new provost on the direction staff and students think it should travel. 

I was given notes post-event to work from but the event itself was a morning of guided discussion.

 

Best for You - Research led by Imperial College London

I was asked to attend a conference centred on the research of the efficacy of a new mental health pathway ‘Best for You’ that has been piloted in northwest London. A similar approach has been mirrored in Denmark, their ‘Best for Us’ initiative, and so the two cohorts came together to compare and contrast methodologies and share best practice, in order learn from one another.

An inspiring day, but sadly in both countries there are so many young people who are suffering, even in Denmark which is meant to be one of the ‘happiest’ places on our planet. 

These images were partly scribed on the day and then finished post event - it was a jam packed few hours and a huge amount of data and ideas were shared, hence the volume of drawings!

Building Diversity in East Midlands Children's Services Staff

I was asked to scribe at this day of celebration and learning. The East Midlands is a very diverse area and it's important that children's services staff reflect that, also at senior levels. This was an event to keep moving forward with this aim. 

Place Based Giving - Explaining what it is!

I was asked to create a representation of the Place Based Giving project that London Funders https://londonfunders.org.uk/ fund. 

This is a wonderful initiative, giving local communities the ability to steer projects and fund projects that make the most impact, from business mentoring to supporting local food banks. 

The poster will be used to create more ripples around the work they do, and hopefully get more funders on board! Here's hoping!

Thanks to Louise Kavanagh for asking me to get involved: https://purposefulmarketing.co.uk/

UKRI Community Forum

This was a really great day, sponsored by Ofgem with the aim of bringing together energy innovators and the general public to discuss improving the ways they share information about their services. 

I often ask clients what sort of image they prefer from a selection of examples I pre-share - and this circle with a swoosh seems to be very popular this year! I think it's because it allows the eyes to travel and has a feeling of onward movement/change. 

We're definitely in a period of massive change since the war started in the Middle East a month ago, who knows where we'll all be in another year...

National Police Conference - Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG)

This was quite a challenging couple of days, live scribing probably the worst kinds of things happening in our current society/world, against women and girls, but with a hope that collectively the police can be aware and taken action to make a difference. 

This is a picture of me at the end of it all - tired and slightly relieved I can go home, and read/watch/listen to something more wholesome!