We hope you’re keeping well, warm and in good spirits during these strange times. Like many of you, the impacts of coronavirus have been keeping us on our toes and encouraging us to rethink our plans, so this week’s Friday Roundup will be short but sweet.
Education Sector Updates
Our friends at Oppi have recently released this guidance for schools and educators to cope during the coronavirus outbreak. Oppi is a global network of education changemakers, and they are updating this document frequently with new guidance so keep an eye on it and share with your colleagues. Some standouts for us:
- Preparing children emotionally and mentally for what it would be like if schools were to close
- In preparing for remote working, ask your community if they have devices they could lend to those who do not
- During this time, consider that many parents could be a resource to help through any potential closure
Project Partner Updates
On a lighter note, to celebrate International Women’s Day, we asked our women project partners and supporters: what advice would you give to other women in your position? Their responses were as wise and wonderful as we expected them to be:
- Ruth Ibegbuna, founder of RECLAIM and Rekindle, said: “Dial down the irritating voice in your head telling you that others are better; they may well be better at some things but no one is better at being authentically you and creating the change you seek in the world”.
- Lucy Bailey, CEO of BounceForward, shared: “Expect life to be tough from time to time. Be ready, by knowing what recovery is for you. Find a low energy, positive emotion activity that will act as a boost when you need it”.
Check out our Twitter feed for other excellent advice – we’ll be repeating these quotes to ourselves as mantras in the coming weeks!
Wider Charity Sector Updates
Purpose-driven organisations of all sizes, shapes and visions are going to be impacted by coronavirus – whether it’s on their staff, participants, their delivery, or more. We found a couple of helpful links on contingency planning this week:
- This McKinsey briefing has three economic scenarios for the next year, followed by a framework of seven steps to take to mitigate the impact
- Harvard Business Review has a dozen clear recommendations to help organisations develop their resilience through the crisis, including constantly reframing your understanding of what’s happening, not confusing having information with being informed, being wary of ‘hype’ cycles and balancing your response to the crisis.
Let us know if you find any other useful resources and keep in touch with us @BigChange_