Visual Minutes for 'The Network' London

Earlier in the year I was live scribing for The Network. This is an internal organisation within the Home Office for black, asian and minority ethnic staff (and their friends!) to share ideas and information and support each other, while they are working for the Home Office. 

This year's annual meeting was the 18th one, so it's truly come of age. The venue was at the Oval cricket ground, London.

The image was laminated so that it could go on a road trip to spread the work of the network and keep the conversation going:

Thanks to Sarah Boulton from Realise for asking me to cover this event:
http://www.realisegroup.com/new-page/

Scribing for Children's Services, Bexley, London

Over the last 2 years I've been working with Bexley Children's services as they encourage their staff to aim higher and recruit and retain good people, while changing behaviours and trying new ways of tackling difficult issues. 

After this summer's Ofsted inspection they have been declared 'Outstanding'!

https://www.bexley.gov.uk/news/bexleys-outstanding-childrens-services

It's been so inspiring to hear the stories of people who've been through the care system and then thrived. 

I've been really impressed by the way the live graphics I've drawn have been embraced and used systemically to communicate and reinforce messages for looked after children.

Cards and prints - Southbank Printmakers Gallery

This is a plug for the artists' cooperative I'm a member of:

http://www.southbankprintmakers.com/

They sell my prints and cards, (selection below!).
One of the few truly affordable galleries in central London, selling original work!

Location: it's in Gabriel's Wharf, next to the Oxo tower on the South Bank in London.

Open every day:
currently 11.30am - 6.30pm and Saturdays 10am - 8pm
winter opening hours from 30th October: 11.30 - 5pm (Saturdays 10 - 7pm).

Human Resources: The Home Office

The Home Office is trying to recruit more people from all backgrounds to reflect the society we live in. Encouraging diversity and inclusion all the way up through the grades, to senior civil servant level (or SCS in Home Office parlance).

I really liked this quote, to show true inclusion: "not just being asked to the party, but also being asked to dance at the party".

There were some really encouraging stories, especially in the case of school outreach programmes in order to change perceptions early on.

Thanks to Sarah Boulton from Realise for asking me to scribe this event:
http://www.realisegroup.com/new-page/

Visual minutes: Young People's Mental Health - Bexley, London

Quite simply: a wonderful day. 

Earlier in the year I was asked to scribe at a young people's conference on mental health. This was a day of sharing methodology and stories to end stigma regarding mental ill-health. 

Lots of great work happening, and the teenagers who are mental health champions within their schools were truly inspiring.

I was commissioned through Scribing Magic Ltd.

Sketch notes for Microsoft

For this event I was using sketch-notes to tell the story of new developments in Microsoft's 'Bot' architecture and how their technology can partner with various businesses. 

I interviewed the people involved and then captured their journey after I'd digested the information and had a chance to think it through. A slightly more measured approach to graphic recording.

The technical side was beyond me, but the outcomes for companies and their customers were far more understandable - the technology is developing so fast but it has to have a human-centric interface.

Thanks to Lloyd Pestell at Courage Media for getting me involved in this project.

St Mungo's Graphic Recording turned into Illustration

Earlier in the year I spent a day with a group of researchers at St Mungo's. This was a peer-led research group, looking into the 'push' and 'pull' factors of why people return to rough sleeping.

So why do people return? A lot of the time it's because there isn't the support network around them to make it work, whereas on the streets you're part of a community.

The day I spent with them listening and drawing 'live' was used to illustrate their findings in a report and smaller brochure, and this has just been published:

Thanks to Lucy Holmes from St Mungo's for asking me to get involved.

10 year Anniversary: Merton Centre for Independent Living

I've been working with Merton C.I.L. for 5 years now. The centre for independent living is a peer-led centre for disable people, and is a much valued resource for local disabled residents.

This year was a celebration of how far they've come since they started - they had printed one of my drawings on a cake. This was a first for me, I've never eaten one of my drawings :)

I was there to capture the celebrations and inspiring words (and songs!). A very inspiring and moving day.

Graphic Recording at the Olympic Park, London

This was on behalf of Ludic, for WorldSkills UK.

This was a youth summit focussing on addressing what to do to get young people interested in a career in the construction industry.

We were right next door to Anish Kapoor's sculpture and and all around there was building work going on - so it was an inspiring backdrop for the event!

Live graphic recording, London

Some recent scribing activity - as I've not blogged for a while!

These were for a community foundation and for a patient consultation on sharing health data.

Patients as Partners, NHS London

These three posters were for completely different collaborative health projects. 

They were commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research Northwest London for the Brian Turley award:

http://clahrc-northwestlondon.nihr.ac.uk/getting-involved/brian-turley-award

They detail the story of different collaborations between patients and clinical staff in order to improve patient care. 

Sustainability Wall, NEC, Birmingham. Live Visual Minutes

This was, on the face of it just another trade fair, subject: packaging.

But team that up with an energetic and passionate debate on plastics, and stir in the mix of supermarkets, politics and packaging manufacturers - and something altogether different, and more interesting happens.

Debate, discussion, strong emotions, questions like: how can we continue like this? (answer: we can't!)

It was great to be a part of this event and get involved in the debate.

Thanks to Leo Johnson for the wonderful fish-eye photograph.
www.leojohnsonphotography.com

And I got to squeeze in a Womble! See below:

The end!

Graphic Recording London

Sometimes I'm asked to very dynamic and interactive meetings, that somehow don't reach their target.

When there are no conclusions or actions at a meeting a graphic recording can show this very clearly, with the large amount of blank space in the 'actions' section.

I was asked whether this discouraged the people at the meeting, but no, they were going to used the blank spaces as the starting point for their next meeting!