Participants' Stories
One group of women wrote this poem to sum up their experiences of the Springboard Programme.
"Confusion is an open mind
Opening doors to other futures
Self belief leaving doubts behind
Shaping possibilities anew
Finding all people are our kind
Breaking bread with strangers
Crossing borders and finding friends."
With thanks to the Pink Posse group!
Inspired by 100th International Women’s day and the Springboard Programme!
I just wanted to let you know about something I became involved with since taking part in Springboard. It is something I am very proud of and largely have Springboard to thank for.
Shortly before the course finished, I contacted a women's charity called Women for Women International to see if I could become involved. It's a charity that helps women survivors of war and their families to rebuild their lives. They asked me if I would be interested in spearheading their International Women's Day campaign in Manchester (where I live) and I agreed. So last week on Monday 8th March, with no budget at all but with a lot of hard work, 40 women and men from around Manchester joined me and thousands of women all over the world to make a stand for women and to support the work that Women for Women International does. Please find attached some photos for your information. And here's the link to the campaign that took place around the world - in Nigeria, the USA, Canada, Germany, France and many more places!
I hope you don't mind me sharing this with you - I just wanted to let you know how much Springboard helped me to find this volunteering role and achieve something I'm really proud of."
Springboard was a complete turning point in my life. I entered the program full of confidence that I was in a good spiritual place, and that this would 'fine tune' me for the way ahead into a positive, life-affirming place.
Instead of a fine tune, I got the major overhaul. Total rebuild. I was challenged on every level. I questioned myself and often found I actually had no answers.
I was also recently diagnosed bipolar when I undertook the course and I found working through the process was healing in a very gently kind of way - it made me look at my life and assess what was important and which parts of me were holding me back - not necessarily from traditional 'success' but from living my life with an authenticity that I was craving.
The moment of closure was actually at the last session, where each group gave a presentation in their own way, about their journey. We ticked and tacked, scribbled and dawdled and eventually we hit upon the idea of a maypole dance. Each woman wrote her springboard journey on a long strip of paper, decorated it then we danced around a pole (a broomstick in a bin actually) weaving them in and out as we sang. I waved a paper 'smoke smudge' in honour of my recently-found aboriginality and something incredible opened up inside.
I remember I drew a fish on my paper story - representing a Pisces and its journey, and shortly after that went home and did the first piece of 'art' I have ever done as an adult. I had been aching to do this but lacked the confidence and the will. Now I can't stop and I make my own cards, presents, prints, mosaics and I can't stem the flow.
Springboard is one of the most amazing journey that is so individual - there are no rules, no rights and wrongs and no generic approaches - you get out what you put in and it is an intensely individual journey.
I am changed forever and so much closer to my purpose than ever before.
Thank you.
It is now over a year since I completed the Navigator Programme and the positive effects of the experience are still with me. Not only in the shape of the changes that I made whilst on the programme (I’m still swimming a kilometre a day), but also in meeting the challenges and achieving the goals of day to day life. Navigator was like nothing I had ever experienced before, unique in its approach and endlessly inspiring, an opportunity to engage with other men in an atmosphere of confidentiality, trust and mutual respect and support. To be able to facilitate further programmes within the Force was an opportunity too good to miss, knowing first hand how far reaching its impact can be.
At the time that I commenced the programme as a participant, I was in the midst of a rather unpleasant civil litigation, which had left me deflated and emotionally exhausted. The positive atmosphere and environment fostered within the group enabled me to be open about how I was feeling, and the support and encouragement that I received was truly overwhelming. Sharing experiences with colleagues, and witnessing how ordinary people had triumphed over adversity was inspirational, and the positive lift that I needed to reassess what was truly important to me.
Looking back on my time in the Navigator Programme, it seems strange to think that I had so many barriers to achieving goals that I had created myself. Taking just four days to spend quality, guided time, looking at where you are, what you are doing, and what you want achieve sounds so simple, but when do we really get the opportunity to do it? For me that is the real value of the programme. That this is provided by ones employer is even more special, and bound to bring benefits to the organisation, as well as the individual. The positive impact that participants reported during the final session was staggering as the facilitation of the course is subtle, guiding rather than instructing, supporting rather than telling, encouraging rather than forcing.
One of the unique features of the programme for me was the environment that was created in the group, due in no small part to the facilitator. Participants spoke candidly about some very personal issues, safe in the knowledge that they would be listened to and respected, and that confidentiality was built in.
The role of men in society has gone through a significant sea change over the last fifty years, with historical preconceptions and stereotypes being challenged and reviewed. Examining who you are for yourself helps to put other areas of your life into perspective. That sort of realisation can’t be taught or forced, it’s something that you come to for yourself with the right guidance, but the impact on your outlook and general attitude cannot be underestimated.
I was keen to ‘spread the word’ of the Navigator programme, and have enthused about it to my colleagues, who I have encouraged to take part. I believe that delivering the programme is possibly the best way for me to encourage future uptake, as word of mouth is great advertising, and hearing first hand of the positive impact on people’s lives is always the best testimony. Navigator is certainly something from which you get as much as you give, and it has been a great challenge to throw myself into delivering the programme with the same energy and commitment shown by my facilitator. I am keen to utilise my potential, and see my new role of Navigator facilitator as an excellent way to develop myself, and in so doing, assist others to develop their own potential."
