Chuffed to be on this list of LGIU's top 25 thinkers in local government with others I admire hugely for their ability to drive change for & with citizens. Together we can pull the plug out of the tepid bath of managed public service decline @LGiU https://t.co/AyhF11BoZg
#Oliverscampaign
My heart bleeds for the autistic man who was mauled to death by a tiger after entering its enclosure
The horrific name calling directed at him says so much about how disabled people continue to be viewed & devalued by some in our society
If you are in the UK Civil Service- a DD or aspiring DD - this is an opportunity to work with me, England’s Upland Communities and @DefraGovUK on system transformation - please share widely a fantastic opportunity for a brilliant candidate https://t.co/DGabpNidCP
The look of man who, for the first time in his coddled 66 years of life, just had the briefest of glimpses of the real world.
Plenty more where that came from I sincerely hope.
This is post number 25 for National Care Leavers Month. Each day I post something from my archive relative to the subject.
A nation is like a family and family is like a nation. It is as simple and complex as that. I know my people and I am known to my people and I say this as one who was lost.
I first came to Ethiopia in 1995. The BBC documentary Internal flight came on that Journey. A boy born in Lancashire, stolen from his mother, brought up in Wigan who migrated to Manchester found his way to Ethiopia.
But it was much more than just one journey. I was not going back to my roots. I was searching for my family. There is a difference. I had to tell my story so that the conditions of my disappearance could be fully understood.
Slowly slowly through documentaries and interviews made here in Ethiopia by curious Ethiopians, and legends of broadcasting such as Meaza Birru on Sheger radio, my story was translated and heard and became known throughout the country.
The Ethiopian baby stolen from his mother, fostered to English Christians then thrown away into institutions at 12 then left by the institutions at 18 with no one and no explanation had to fight his way back into his story and wear it regardless of whether he wanted to.
I fought a system determined to forget and erase me. And I found evidence and I returned to Ethiopia with that evidence at 29, an acclaimed poet. I didn't know what my name meant. In my mother's tongue. it means 'Why'. How could I not be a poet with a name like Why.
The story continues. There is so much joy now. A nation is like a family and family is like a nation. It is as simple and complex as that.
Photo taken by John O'Rourke on Entoto at sunrise.
Closing day 1 at #ncasc25, ADASS President Jess McGregor and ADCS President Rachael Wardell OBE join Professor Donna Hall to discuss place-based leadership, community cohesion and the vital role of the workforce in connecting with communities.