This is what I’m doing NOW (May 2023)

(Inspired by Graham Allcott)

• In follow-through phase of facilitation: supporting the International Climate Action team to make sure that all actions from their retreat in Washington DC at the end of March bear fruit. Lots of collaboration with World Resources Institute colleagues around the world. The ICA team has distilled a fresh sense of direction for its work as parti of global efforts to mitigate, and adapt to, manmade climate change.

• Inviting interest to create a small team to develop the Passing it On podcast which will to pass on advice from senior leaders' time on the civil society front line for those who are there right now. Guests who will be retiring, close to it, or beyond, will be interviewed by Sir Nick Young or me and will also be asked to offer music, a quote or maybe a poem which especially helped them during their time of struggle. Interested? Contact me.

• Preparing for mid June strategy day for the Heart of England Forest board and senior team to grow their thinking about all the great things they will do on their way to planting 30,000 acres of forest (7,000 so far)

• Having delivered a good number of 'Spot the Red Flag - and do something' sessions Jenny Berry, ACEVO and I are now refreshing our offering for civil society CEOs working title 'WhatsUp (This is the weight I'm carrying)'.

• With Practical Inspiration Publishing am now setting out to rewrite much of the 54,000 words of the first draft manuscript to create an even better second manuscript of ‘Wild Waters – good leaders in bad trouble’ to help the civil society leaders who need it (Chairs, trustees, CEOs, senior team). With the lovely and brilliant Alison Jones Founder of PIP have come up with a more accessible structure. Looking forward to that creative challenge. Working on it with Jenny Berry ACEVO. . Delighted to have already received endorsements from Sir Nick Young, former CEO Macmillan and British Red Cross & Jane Ide CEO, ACEVO, Sarah Vibert CEO NCVO, Ros Oakley CEO Association of Chairs and Jesper Christensen, Consultant BDB Pitmans, Bernd Eiden, Co-founder and Director of the Chiron Centre for Body Psychotherapy, Amanda Falkson, Peter Leigh and more here

• Happy now to be recognised by the International Association of Facilitators as a Certified™ Professional Facilitator | Emeritus ('The IAF Certified™ Professional Facilitator ǀ Emeritus is a designation granted to an IAF CPF or IAF CPF ǀ Master when the person demonstrates the senior level of an IAF CPF ǀ M [...] who has made significant contributions to advancing the field of facilitation [and] is meant primarily for those who have retired or are retiring ... Convening a virtual global ‘emerging network of “us” ‘ with other CPF | Emeritus facilitators; second meeting happened in April.

• Coaching and supporting of three senior charity leaders through turbulent times ('Wild Waters' indeed)

• With Patricia, Susanne and Ramey , nourished by our deep sharing and considering expanding the Live Well, Die Wise deep listening group.

• Coordinating monthly 'R' Word gathering with The Experience Network (R - 'retirement' rejuvenation' 're-directing' 're-tyring' etc etc). Seven of us. Started June 2021; 22nd gathering will be in June.

• Convening 3rd gathering (July) of 13 international facilitators who have been certified as CPF | Emeritus

• With guidance from neighbour RC, have got into sour dough bread baking. 10% white and 90% wholemeal flour seems to come out well. Best so far. Yum.

• Have discovered audio book several decades after everyone else. Now Wolf Hall. I like to walk in the park and listen.

• Still wild swimming in the Thames and elsewhere. Now warming up -10ish degrees. Coldest so far was January (air temp -8, water 1) Now own a nice red 2nd hand kayak and learning how to do it properly with Minima but fell in last autumn; also thinking about sea kayaking.

• Still enjoying learning Spanish with Memworld, German and French and am slowly getting closer to my life-long ambition of being conversationally multilingual. One to one virtual Spanish grammar lessons with Paola from Bogota are fun (fun ... grammar, did I really say that!!). Weekly face to face French class.

• Continuing on a life long Journey Inwards. The Way Out Is In Meditating most mornings. Finding a journal conversation with my father (who died in 2000) and his father (died 1927) to be revealing and discovering how much of their struggle, as Irish diaspora, I have been carrying with me; it is surprising how real our conversation feels.

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