TLP Participant Story – Meabh Harvey, local resident, Suffolk Lenadoon TLP Autumn 2020

Meabh is a local resident and completed her TLP course in Autumn 2020 in West Belfast,along with participants from BCC, the Green Party, Springfield Charitable Association, Boys and Girls Clubs, Falls Women’s Centre, Ógra Shinn Féin and many others

Introduction and Motivation

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

I wasn’t aware of any similar programmes. I liked that it was community based, it was short (a few hours a week) and the topic interested me.

Experience and Learning

  1. What topics stood out for you?

Transformative leadership in general, power and systems as I didn’t know much about this before.

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

Hopefully a more transformative leadership style – buy-in from people, having a vision, confidence, recognising strengths in people.

  1. How would you summarise your experience of the programme?

Interesting, sociable, learning.

      Impact

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

Deal with people who are “above me” – for example in my football club, people who are older and have been there longer.

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

I am more aware of the interface area and the needs of the individual people in it and I am more committed to doing something to help / make a difference.

  1. What difference will the course make to the interface area overall?

I think the course will help relationships in the interface areas and increased understanding of each other.

  Behaviour

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

Youth - giving them something to do, and community wellbeing – making things better for people, if in a somewhat small way.

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

I will be more confident and more aware of people I am working with, their needs and abilities and aspirations.

Attribution

  1. To what extent do you think these changes would have occurred in the absence of this course?

I would not be aware of the needs of the people in the interface areas, I would not have the confidence or knowledge to act or lead.

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