Beautiful things in south Birmingham

In the words of Nick Cave, it is beauty that is going to save the world now. Amidst collapsing social infrastructure (28,000 households on the housing waiting list in Birmingham!) and escalating demand we need more of the beauty that is inherent in work like the Pathfinder if we are to renew social systems so they work for all of us.

I’m an outsider/insider, here on a year’s secondment from Lankelly Chase, the foundation where I work, so I feel I can say things my modest colleagues here wouldn’t dream of saying about themselves.

So, here’s my incomplete list of beautiful things to be found here in south Birmingham.

• The welcome. If you are a family member feeling worn out or a fellow traveller looking for solidarity, you will be warmly met. The Pathfinder is a collective and partnership is in its DNA. Stay for longer than an hour and you’ll be roped in one way or another. You’ll be persuaded – ‘come and join in, let’s connect, let’s make this happen together, let’s pool our resources and learn together’. It’s the opposite of precious and competitive.
• Related to this – the knitting. Or weaving. The work is local, contextual, ground up. It’s made of what’s here already, connected up in a different way. It forms a network. It’s not a new thing on top and the network is continually tended and nourished and grown.
• The determination and drive, the uncompromising focus on values. Holding the line on the special nature of this work and saying no when it is threatened. Battling through and just doing it, sometimes when you’ve explicitly been told not to.
• That ‘nurture’ applies to everyone. Children and families, definitely but we also aspire to nurture and value tired headteachers, under pressure system leaders, even frustrated funders, and each other.
• The edge. There’s a reason why the team called itself The Resistance when the Pathfinder started up. There’s an alternative vibe, a punk sensibility. Working class roots are proudly on display. We are not going to do things the way they have always been done. We are here to change things. It is not (just) about warmth and kindness, and hugs and care (though all those things are here too) it is about justice and what’s due to people and who gets to decide things. It’s a little bit angry but beautifully so.
• The people. The Pathfinder has sought out the warmest, most compassionate, least sentimental, most emotionally intelligent people in local systems. Often they are [women] working in low paid jobs where their qualities and expertise have not been fully appreciated. The Pathfinder draws them in and values them, and tells them how important and skilled they are and supports them to develop. As a result the Pathfinder team is fabulous – mighty and wonderful and a force to be reckoned with. You’d definitely want them on your side.
• The inclusivity. Everyone is welcome and we want everyone to thrive. A bit of adjustment is no big deal in order to realise your potential and allow us to understand each other more. We’re interested and we want to know you as you are, with your anger and your sadness, your dreams and your creativity.
• The office. Not really like an office at all, more like a fairytale grotto, all wonky floors and wooden beams. It is busy, warm and welcoming. It is filled with fairy lights, music, flowers, bunting and children’s drawings. (It’s also haunted according to my colleagues).

If you are someone with control of resources and you spot this kind of stuff (not the ghosts), try and make more of it happen. Don’t control it or force it into boxes. Feed it and encourage it, be with it over time, and let it blossom and bloom.  If you can emulate any of this in your work, do so. Listen to the frontline and provide the authorising environment for fantastic values-driven, determined people to innovate and connect and do their thing so more of this kind of necessary beauty can be in the world.