From Jersey to the Shetland Islands is not far short of 1,000 miles and would involve non stop driving and sailing for about 24 hours; this is one view of the extent of our Mind Of My Own community!
Since the start of November Mind Of My Own has gone live in four different local authorities across the UK. Northamptonshire Children’s Trust, East Dunbartonshire, Pembrokeshire and Shetland Islands have joined the 480 other services making up our community. From all of these implementations we have learnt a great deal in embedding our digital participation tools in a variety of organisations. We wanted to share some of our biggest lessons and here they are:
Location: the length and breadth of Britain
Now that we are live with Pembrokeshire and Shetland Islands, Mind Of My Own is embedded in local authorities in the far reaches of the UK. From the English South coast to the North of Mainland Scotland, and from the West of Wales to the English East coast, Pembrokeshire to Hull. Our community now represents the length and breadth of Britain.
Our presence throughout the UK and the rest of the world, has taught us that each organisation is in a different situation and requires us to adapt. We have learnt to tailor our implementation steps for different locations. We know the challenges faced by a Scottish local authority will never be the same as an
English or Welsh one (or even one in New Zealand!).
Size: it doesn’t matter
When we implement Mind Of My Own, it’s not just the location that matters, it’s the size too. The Shetland Islands, for example, join Jersey and City of London as some of the smaller (though no less important) local authorities in our community. On the other hand, Northamptonshire Children’s Trust join Kent, Birmingham, and Lancashire as some of the larger ones. We have learnt that it doesn’t matter if an authority is large or small. An authority’s size brings different challenges that our implementation project plan must account for.
Situation: a massive effect on the outcome
The final key factor in our implementation planning is the situation that the organisation finds themselves in. Northamptonshire Children’s Trust was established only a year ago as they began to deliver children’s social care on behalf of the local council. Organisational changes like this can have a massive effect on the outcome of any implementation and so have to be factored into the planning. Although the Trust is new, we’re proud to see staff throughout their organisation passionately champion the child’s voice.
Those early days of implementation are vital to ensuring the future success for organisations using Mind Of My Own digital participation tools. Want to know more? Contact hello@mindofmyown.org.uk
