Kindness in North Ayrshire Why is kindness important

Kindness in North Ayrshire

Why is kindness important? Communities Place Organisations Wellbeing Power Falling trust in Empowerment institutions Dependence Growing on services demand for services Loneliness & isolation

What do we mean by kindness? Communities Individuals Random kindness Organisations Relational kindness Systems/ Structures Radical kindness

What have we learned? Welcoming Places • Examples of low key interventions to change perceptions of space & encourage connections • Differences between voluntary and statutory provision • Purpose of use • Time limitations • Harder to move from highlighting positive examples to change problematic spaces

What have we learned? Informal Opportunities • Lots of examples of informal opportunities for connection • Especially using food! • Complicated relationship between the presence/requirement of organisations and the need for informality

What have we learned? Questioning Values • Lots of goodwill around general kindness messages • Deepening understanding through deliberative conversation • Challenging system issues

What have we learned? Organisational Cultures • Unwillingness to take risks • Impact of regulation and professional boundaries • Reluctance to let go of performance management • Fear of ‘radical kindness’ • Practical steps to make kindness feel real…

North Ayrshire Kindness Promise We will strive to create the conditions for kindness in our organisations and for the people we serve by: • trusting our staff to make meaningful connections with people • protecting time and creating spaces for people to come together • listening to people’s needs and finding solutions in the round, not just addressing our bit of the picture • creating opportunities to recognise and celebrate kindness • creating a culture where people are more important than processes and enabling unkindness to be called out • ensuring our performance management aligns with our values and committing to ask our staff and those we serve if they experience kindness

Aims for next 6 months • Implementing Kindness Promise • Build on empowered network • Peer researchers – core team to drive change • Involve public, private and third sector • Embed in whole system change

Can we make this about system change