Greetings from the overwhelm

It's been a bit of a busy few weeks. I plunged myself into the race to be the new leader of Lambeth Council.

If the Labour Group is looking for a unifying candidate without any tribalism and ego, then Cllr Caldicott might just be the refreshing change that the borough needs.

I'll take that.

I didn't win but gave a good account of myself and was proud to be appointed to the Cabinet as Lead Member for Health and Adult Social Care on a job share role.

Our focus includes reducing health inequalities so that more residents enjoy longer, healthier and independent lives and to lead the council’s public health response to Covid-19, including testing, vaccine roll-out and localised contact tracing. We are responsible for caring for some of the most vulnerable people in our community. Looking after my mother in her final months and navigating the complexities of the health and social care systems means that it's an area of work close to my heart. Read more here.

This is a fantastic opportunity and I'm very excited.

But it does mean that I'm in the overwhelm stage which always happens when taking on a new job - especially one so enormous and important.

Here are some more women doing our best work after the age of 50:

And I'm still doing all the things I was supposed to be doing plus moving newsletter platforms. Welcome to our new home! Eventually the plan is to amalgamate my ChangeOut web site and newsletter archive all here. I hope it's all looking ok but let me know if not!

This is by way of saying forgive the gap since I last sent you anything and forgive the brevity and forgive the navel gazing. Maybe you didn't even notice the pause!

With the European Championships 2020 beginning on Friday (why haven't they renamed it 2021?), it was good and important to see this from England manager, Gareth Southgate.

I have a responsibility to the wider community to use my voice, and so do the players. It’s their duty to continue to interact with the public on matters such as equality, inclusivity and racial injustice, while using the power of their voices to help put debates on the table, raise awareness and educate.

Imagine if we win, in London, a quarter century after Gareth's penalty miss against Germany. Here's hoping!

Thank you, Sophia Moreau, for introducing me to the concept of the glass cliff

There's a TED talk about it here which is really worth watching.

Interesting and useful links 🖇️

This from the Institute of Race Relations:

"In response to the increasing demand from young students to re-evaluate Britain’s true ‘Island Story’ and the growing politicised opposition to the objective (re)telling of slavery and colonialism, we are delighted to release a digital version of our pioneering educational booklet, ‘Roots of Racism’ for free download

Many people are working on how to combine working from home with working in person in future. Zoe Amar shared this useful link. How to make hybrid of blended meetings work. And here are some thoughts about hybrid work from Microsoft.

Clinks, the membership body for charities working to support people in the criminal justice system and their families, has been doing some work on the language they use to talk about race. What language will we use?

Learning points 🎓

Leadership from the back is as important as leadership from the front. The trick, I think, is to know which circumstances call for which one.

What am I reading? 📚

I found Paris Lees' memoir, What it feels like for a girl, really moving. You can buy it here

What am I watching? 👀

Sitting in Limbo, the drama about Anthony Bryant's fight for Windrush justice won a BAFTA. There’s something so offensive about this when Anthony himself is still sitting in limbo.

Windrush Day is on 22 June.

What am I listening to? 👂

Here's some pop music from Claud.

Joy-giving things 😍

For years I had a National Trust membership that I barely used. Covid has changed all that. Last weekend we took my dad out for the day to Charlecote Park. It couldn't have been a more perfect day.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Love, Lucy

I write this newsletter because I believe in sharing progressive ideas that help us work towards a truly equal world.

Share it with your friends so they can read it too 📣

ChangeOut is created by Lucy Caldicott. You can find more about my work at ChangeOut.org. If you’re looking to have a chat about culture, leadership, purpose, equity, or a facilitated team discussion about any of those things, get in touch. You can also find me on Bluesky, Instagram, and, LinkedIn.

If it’s your first time reading this newsletter, find out more here.