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Cath Kane Director Broad Cairn Associates M: 07795 077728 www.broadcairnassociates.com Making The Invisible Visible
Cath Kane founder of Broad Cairn Broad Cairn can be found in the Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland. The word ‘cairn’ comes from the Scottish Gaelic, and means a trail-marker, especially important in hostile territories. They are built by those who have the courage and sense of adventure, to mark out new pathways. C aring for the Carers: Building Resilience In 2015 the Guardian commissioned a survey looking into the impact of working in public services on staff. The survey found that 93% of respondents ‘feel stressed at work all, some, or a lot of the time; those working in jobs ranging from social work to police and probation, social housing to the NHS, civil service and charities’. The headline for the article read ‘stressed, angry and demonised: council staff in austerity Britain’ acknowledging that local government workers are feeling the emotional strain of maintaining services with diminishing resources. This raises the question; how can we build resilience in organisations that support staff to effectively meet the ever-increasing demands of delivering frontline services? Those of us who work or have worked in local government and voluntary sector organisations, will have experienced the pressures to deliver on national government policies while offering appropriate, accessible services at local level that meet the needs of our communities and service users. Localisation has allowed local authorities to define their own priorities based on community need. However, this has created challenges when implementing national priorities such as changes in legislation to address coercive control and psychological violence. How can we ensure consistency in information, advocacy and support when there may be gaps in services at local level? Austerity may have reduced budgets, but the social issues they address have not reduced. Most professionals working in the public sector and specialist third sector are overwhelmed by demand. That demand for services is often increased with successful public awareness campaigns, landmark legal changes and political re-prioritisation. Welcomed as many of these changes may be, for managers and staff responsible for delivering change, the task may seem impossible at times. Having managed a diverse range of teams, projects and partnerships over the last thirty years, here are 3 things for senior managers to consider when supporting your teams. 1. Build self-care strategies into systems, processes and team conversations: this is an important strategy to reduce stress and build resilience in your service. This also embeds trauma-informed principles into organisational structure 2. Foster control rather than dependency: if you can foster this in your teams, then workers will be more able to authentically mirror this with service users and recognise techniques to enable empowerment 3. Foster a sense of trust: this allows staff to develop confidence and reduces the stress of ‘getting it wrong’. In turn this can help staff build positive relationships with service users, which is central to understanding and managing risk. Making The Invisible Visible
Page 1: CCChat Magazine FREE The Magazine o
Page 5 and 6: Contents Interview with the Editor
Page 9 and 10: Freedom’s Flowers By Pat Craven C
Page 11 and 12: Before he moved in, when he met the
Page 13 and 14: Meet Ngozi Fulani founder of Sistah
Page 17 and 18: Dominic's Story A male victim of ab
Page 19 and 20: “We’ve been really worried abou
Page 21 and 22: “It may not be the life you had p
Page 23 and 24: the truth about domestic abuse and
Page 25 and 26: I also struggled with the ‘Whys
Page 27: Like Andrew Wakefield’s infamous
Page 30 and 31: What made you stop? Ahh, well many
Page 32 and 33: The interview Liz Gibbons Liz Gibbo
Page 34: So is it totally secure? We are con
Page 37 and 38: “I believe he saw himself as a sm
Page 39 and 40: Theo told me that, if I was comfort
Page 41 and 42: Since meeting that woman, I have co
Page 46 and 47: “There is huge gap between what w

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