Welcome back
Not the Void UK has been on a Summer break. I thought it might be useful to share a bit about what has been going on since June and what is happening this Autumn.
The disability justice solution is not to abandon those projects whe people are exhausted, but to continue to figure out how to resource the work. Our crip skills and working, living and organizing with low spoons is going to be crucial. They already are… We have the knowledge the world needs.
- Leah Lakshmi Piepzna Samarasinha ‘The Future is Disabled, Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs.’
By the time Summer arrived, myself and my co facilitator Nancy were heading into burnout. We decided to take some time out and I used my Summer to make some art, have a really good rest and finally book in some supervision with a member of the Radical Therapist Network. Our group had a meeting to express how taking time out felt and we agreed to meet at the end of July to reconnect.
While I was resting, changes continued, nothing stays the same forever. Nancy stepped back from co facilitating, which was sad but a decision that I understood, Not the Void has been shaped by Nancy and all that she brought of her self. I began to think over the options for who might step into that role with me in the Autumn. In the end, I did the scary, vulnerable thing and asked several of the group members who had expressed a desire to facilitate out group if they were in a good place to do that. They were!
We now have a team of six people who have devoted some time to being a member of Not the Void and are willing to hold the space using a rota system. This is exciting, it brings much more variety to the meetings whilst retaining the trust that builds up with regular members - in past conversations, members have felt that bringing in a new person to co facilitate would be difficult, they’d have a lot to catch up on in terms of our culture and ethics.
I’m also hoping that a team approach means we have more resources to co supervise each other and that will mean the emotional impact of holding this space can be shared between us. It makes me think of webs of care where many people can sustain what a pair might not have been able to.
Our website has now migrated from Wix to Squarespace, a member of Not the Void generously spent time (unpaid) with me this summer to move the content over and reshape the site on this webhost. This means that we are still in the progress of usability and accessibility tagging, please bear with us as we finesse the site over the coming weeks.
I’ve really benefitted from a series of supervision sessions with Sage Stephanou. Sage is the founder and a co-director of the Radical Therapist Network, and currently working as a clinical supervisor, educator, and group facilitator, with a specialism in abolitionist, somatic intersectional, anti-oppressive therapeutic praxis. I knew that I wanted to challenge some of my pre conceptions and white fragility around sharing power and I’ve been fortunate to have space to do that with Sage, whose non judgmental yet honest approach has helped me commit to being accountable with fellow Not the Void members. The Radical Therapist Network is well worth checking out, they offer resources and have funded therapy sessions for people most often excluded from therapy.
It has been joyful to hear from members about all they have been up to over the Summer months, and to hear of various events and groups popping up that members have attended. Discovering Liveability had their first engagement event, Dolly Sen did a workshop that was highly rated, a new community of practice around the topic of self harm began. As ever, the many projects that other people who come to group attend keep our perspectives fresh and keep us all on our toes!
Over August, Not the Void members have begin to reconnect and our next meeting is on the 21st September at 3pm. If you would like to join us, there are places available, please get in touch.
There’ll be a lot to look forward to in the Autumn, I’ve seen events from Project LETS, National Survivor User Network, Asylum magazines Autumn launch, as I walk into the change of season, I feel ready for what’s coming next.
Much love,
Heather.