314: it’s a wild wild life

General musings 2 Minutes

I have been asked to point out that I did, in fact, do something of note in week 313 and that was to attend a Best Practice sharing session on making our arts programmes more inclusive. Facilitated by the fabulous Kate Oliver (hi Kate!) who, as well as being a freelance educator extraordinaire, was my predecessor in my current role. The session explored what being radically inclusive looked like for people working in community and SEND settings, and as always was filled with excellent insights from people working in the field, and sparked great discussions and a call for dismantling the patriarchy. Hurray!

It was held at Tate Modern on the 5th floor on a glorious spring day, so we were treated to London looking shiny in the sunshine. I treated myself to an orange hot chocolate from a nice lady with a van and watched the world go by for a while. I love watching people and boats and all the things happening around me in the sun, and then making my way back across the bouncy bridge to St Pauls.

This week I have spent a lot of time hanging out in Myddelton Square, near our new site, while we held public meetings about an aspect of our operations. I stationed myself on the door, greeting people and catching them again on the way out to make sure they went away with a smile. I have to say I was surprised to see a pair of woodpeckers in the trees in the middle of Islington as well as the ubiquitous parakeets, blue tits and pigeons. There was also a squirrel foraging for scraps who hung out with me for a while.

Spring does finally feel like it’s getting a grip, though the paths through the fields and forests are still quite badly churned up. The byway through the woods is particularly bad, thanks to idiots in 4x4s who seem to have no consideration for other users of the space, leaving foot deep clay ruts filled with lakes. They’re even removing fences and damaging the forest itself, and the Essex Way is a mess.

This week (well, Friday 20th) marked the sixth anniversary of my very first post on this blog way back in 2020 and it appears I am still burbling about squirrels, flowers and forests. Thanks for hanging out with me all this time…

Kirsty x

What I’ve been reading:

Kate Shugak Investigations 15-18 – Dana Stabenow

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Published by Kirsty Sullivan

By day, I'm the Head of Learning and Participation at a small illustration charity, and the happiest commuter on the Central Line with crochet hook and Audible subscription. After hours, mother of three kids, staff to three cats, slave to the smoke alarm. Hoarder of yarn and fabric, maker of stuff, obsessive reader. Walker with ambitions.

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