TLP Participant Story: Grainne Gibson, North Belfast TLP Spring 2022

Grainne works for HERe NI and completed the course in North Belfast in Spring 2022

She completed the course alongside participants from PeasParkBelfast, Law Centre NI, Lighthouse, Vineyard Compassion and the Police Service of NI, as well as other people in the community.

Introduction and Motivation

1. Before signing up to the programme, were you aware of any other similar programmes in your area?

No, I wasn’t.

2. What motivated you to sign up to this particular programme over any others?

There were a few people in my organisation who had already completed the programme and one other was currently doing the course. My manager recommended it to me as well. I wanted to progress my career further and acquire skills along the way to benefit myself both professionally and personally.

Experience and Learning

3. What topics stood out for you?

Learning about the different types of leadership – Goleman styles. I learned how each could produce different results and show what kind of person you are through which leadership style you adopt. Leading and Motivating your Community stood out as well and I enjoyed listening to other people’s voices.

4. What are you likely to ‘take back’ to your life/work in the community?

I will take back skills that I have gained from the learning and the ideas given from peers in the group and the content of the programme. I have learned new methods of doing things and I hope they would be acceptable with the people I work with and service users.

5. How would you summarise your experience of the programme in 1 sentence or in 3 words?

The content of the programme led to fantastic discussions in the breakout rooms and the larger classroom. I found that it was a great ideas generator and we learned a lot from each other’s experiences.

 Impact

6. Is there anything you could or would do now that you wouldn’t have felt able to do before?

Learning how to delegate to other people. I was able to let go of trying to do everything by myself and not be afraid to ask for help. I became more confident in myself and in my approach to my work.

7. Are there people/agencies you feel able to talk to and work with now that you weren’t before?

NICVA. Making connections with other learners in my group.

8. What difference will this make to how you engage in your interface area?

Be open to seeing things from all perspectives and being able to work with anyone across different organisations, areas and backgrounds. It will enable everyone to come and work together to improve things for the better.

9. What difference will the course make to the interface area overall? Especially in terms of relationships, collaboration and increased understanding in the area?

Bringing people together, especially in terms of the project and encouraging people to take part in it. Help people to achieve something without any negativity.

   Behaviour

10. Which issues in particular do you think you might get involved in?

I want to get involved in mediation between communities. Helping people to realise a common goal and making sure that they feel like they’re being listened to. That their voices are being heard.

11. How will you apply new ways of working, ideas or approaches?

I will take forward the skills and ideas that I learned during the course with me. I will use them in planning and how I interact with other team members and service users we provide for.

Attribution

12. To what extent do you think these changes would have occurred in the absence of this course? i.e., would you have developed these skills and be motivated to do something new anyway?

No, I don’t think I would have. I felt in a bit of a rut before I started the course. It absolutely spurred me on to learn something new and encouraged me in my current role and in looking forward to the future.

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