When allyship meets leadership

Allyship is Dictionary.com's word of 2021.

A few months ago, the RNLI released a video showing the work they do in the Channel. How anyone could object to this life-saving work, I simply throw up my hands in despair, but ever since, the charity has been subject to a sustained and targeted hate campaign from the far right.

It was good to see allyship, and also leadership, from Fundraising Everywhere this week rallying support for the RNLI from across the voluntary sector. You can add your name in support here. We stand together indeed.

If you want to support the RNLI, you can donate here, or buy stuff from their excellent shop here.

It was also good to see Charity Comms award the whole RNLI Comms team with an "Inspiring Communicator of the Year" award for all their important and principled work in 2021.

Interesting and useful links 🖇️

In the week that, shamefully, the Nationality and Borders Bill was voted through in the House of Commons, here's a useful toolkit from the Joint Council on the Welfare of Immigrants with facts and resources to fight the hostile environment, which has undoubtedly got more hostile with the passing of the bill.

I was really pleased to see the historian, David Olusoga, honoured for his work by the British Academy with the award of the President's Medal 👏🏼

Throughout my career, whether writing history or bringing stories from the past to television, I have believed that history and the humanities must be made available to everyone and include everyone’s stories.

Learning points 🎓

If you're a leader or decision maker, one of your privileges is deciding what to spend your time on, or not.

Right at the start of my career I remember my manager telling me that he used to prioritise tasks into A, B, or C piles (this was pre email days so we used to get typed memos!) He said that he knew tasks in his C pile were unlikely to ever get done and sporadically he'd look through them and file them in the bin.

I think about this often. What if your C pile was someone else's A pile? How would you know? 🤔

Day of the Week 📆

In my Lambeth Cabinet role, I marked the International Day of Disabled People with a letter to Lambeth's business leaders calling for them to improve accessibility to their venues. I've already had a positive response - and also learned about what's being done already - and will be following up in the New Year.

What am I reading? 📚

Bernardine Evaristo's Manifesto "offers career advice for any creative who’s ever had a crisis of confidence"

What am I watching? 👀

We've been enjoying Money Heist this week.

What am I listening to?👂

It's been chilly this week and I've been listening to Walk Out To Winter.

Joy-giving things 😍

I saw Ben and Jerry from Vauxhall City Farm on Sunday at a family fun day at Black Prince Trust. I was on the board of trustees at the Farm when the staff team submitted a proposal to buy some alpacas. We approved the business case and Ben and Jerry moved in.

After 15 years of service to the good people of Vauxhall, they're moving to the country soon for a well-earned retirement.

Have a good weekend

Lucy x

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

I write this newsletter because I believe in sharing ideas that help us work towards a truly equal world, particularly in the workplace.

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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.

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