Introducing
Give Help – Find Help – Work Together
We are passionate about helping people to thrive and flourish in Dorset. We do this by making and supporting connections between people and all kinds of services and support across the county and beyond; linking people to things that can make a positive difference to them and those around them. We recognise that we all need diffe
rent things at different times of our lives, and know that where we live influences the things we can do, and the kinds of support that is available. We know that money, education, and family context can all impact on our opportunities, and our access to support and chance to thrive. We recognise that this can lead to inequity and inequality in opportunity from place to place, person to person, and community to community. We continually research and review this disparity, and are committed to making these opportunities and experiences fairer and more equitable. We build our understanding of services and needs through relationships, and getting to know people. We take care to approach people with respect; to tread lightly around their work, their passions, and their lives. We recognise that we may cause damage if we’re not careful and sensitive to the context, values, meaning, and motivation behind services and activities that we find in our communities. We hope we can enable, amplify, champion, and strengthen community services and activities of all kinds; within the Voluntary and Community Sector, the Private Sector, and the Public Sector. We want these building blocks of our civil society, that contribute so much to our personal wellness, to be strong and resilient. But we don’t want to compete with them, or to duplicate their services, or to assimilate or control them. Our role is service; to help to create the conditions where people can flourish, where services can grow and develop to meet the needs of the people when and where they arise. We stay close to the grass roots. We spend our time with people. We discuss. We share. We share widely. We are drawn into discussions with all kinds of people who would like our help to create connections, or wrestle with challenges, or dream dreams, and who are looking for allies, champions, and friends to support them in their work. We introduce people. We provide connections. We sometimes help people communicate – interpreting language, concepts, and references. We hold spaces open for discussion, disagreement, and dialogue. We champion people and their work. We are fierce, protective, and passionate in our support of the small, hopeful, fragile new shoots that emerge as people begin to work together, or create something new. We are in awe of those whose service has been offered faithfully for years, without fanfare or ego. We celebrate them, and learn from them. We are curious and inquisitive, but not pushy. We love working with people, and try to approach them with compassion, and kindness. We know that we can only do what we do because others want us to do it. Our ideas and inspiration only take root when others see value, or interest in them. What we do, changes. It evolves. It ebbs and flows. Sometimes it ripples out into something formal. Sometimes it vanishes beneath the surface, to reappear later, or change into something different. Our website lists some of the larger pieces of work that we do and have done. We’ve supported community responses to COVID, to the cost of living crisis, to hunger and food poverty. We’ve helped Hosts and Guests through the Homes for Ukraine scheme. We’ve created help services like the Dorset’s Community Response, are working with local authority social care, mental health services in the NHS, hospital discharge, and with the development of strategic projects, including the formation of the Integrated Care System and dozens of public sector programmes of work. We’ve also facilitated the formation of the Voluntary and Community Sector Assembly for Dorset. We regularly contribute to regional and national debate and learning within the NHS and local, regional, and national government. But beneath these more structured activities, is the heartbeat of living in, and connecting to, our communities. It is not about building empires, or seeking for our own survival. It is about being present, listening, respecting, and learning. It is about finding out if we can be helpful and going where the need is. And it is about meeting people with kindness. Jon Sloper, CEO,
