{"id":2161,"date":"2017-05-12T11:19:31","date_gmt":"2017-05-12T10:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.www.ourbrightfuture.co.uk\/cy\/2017\/05\/12\/we-came-together\/"},"modified":"2019-11-29T15:34:19","modified_gmt":"2019-11-29T15:34:19","slug":"we-came-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/oeof.bsb\/cy\/2017\/05\/12\/we-came-together\/","title":{"rendered":"We came together\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"Share, Learn Improve Coordinator, Nikki Robinson shares her thoughts on the Our Bright Future all project seminar.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h6>\n
As the sun peeked over the horizon one Tuesday morning in April, all around the UK people were on the move\u2026 from Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England they came. From remote rural communities and inner cities almost 100 people flocked towards Brockholes Nature Reserve<\/a> in Lancashire. Why? Because this was the Our Bright Future seminar \u2013 an annual get together for all 31 projects and the Youth Forum that form the Our Bright Future programme.<\/h6>\n
This \u2018coming together\u2019 represents an important opportunity for everyone. Heads down in our day jobs, it\u2019s easy to forget that we are part of a bigger movement for change. But through the seminar, we shared knowledge and learnt from each other. Both of which are critical for continued improvement and maximising the impact of Our Bright Future.<\/h6>\n
To host the seminar, we wanted a venue where one of the Our Bright Future projects was located and had the \u2018wow\u2019 factor. Brockholes Nature Reserve certainly fitted the bill! It\u2019s home of the MyPlace<\/a> project which is managed by The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside<\/a>. This former quarry was purchased by the Trust in 2007 and transformed into the beautiful reserve that resides there today. The floating visitor centre is truly iconic.<\/h6>\n
It was very special to revisit highlights from year one together. The quotes from young people were really moving and demonstrate the significant impact that Our Bright Future is already having.<\/h6>\n
\u201cBeing here has\u2026 brought me serenity.\u00a0It is the one time in my week I can take myself out of my daily world and just be here, just be me.\u201d<\/h6>\n
Young person, Building Sustainable Communities<\/a>, Down to Earth<\/h6>\n
\u201cI am thinking about my future, my families, my communities\u2026 We\u2019re in a place where we can change it.\u00a0I believe we shouldn\u2019t waste our voices.\u201d<\/h6>\n
Young person, My World My Home<\/a>, Friends of the Earth\"\"<\/h6>\n
The seminar was an opportunity for the Youth Forum to be in the spotlight. To hear them speak with such enthusiasm and passion was awe-inspiring but they took it all in their stride and thoroughly deserved the applause that filled the room. One quote especially stood out for me: an 18 year old apprentice with the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust\u2019s Green Futures<\/a> project said, \u201cI got involved with Our Bright Future because I wanted to prove to people that I could do it. And that if I can do it, anyone can\u2026\u201d Personally, I think he is selling himself a little short; the fact that he is single-handedly going through the lambing season, participating in an apprenticeship and took two days out to attend a seminar demonstrates his commitment and deserves commendation.<\/h6>\n
We also had time devoted to Open Space Technology \u2013 a process that has no predetermined agenda but uses a theme, an invitation or a question to frame the session. Our frame was \u2018How do we maximise opportunities and make Our Bright Future bigger, better and stronger?\u2019 We then invited conversation topics under this umbrella. Conversations ranged from how to bring projects together more frequently on a regional basis to developing an understanding of the systemic change required to safeguard the environment.<\/h6>\n
Personally, I found the seminar deeply satisfying on many levels \u2013 to get everyone together, learn more about the projects and discuss programme progress was fantastic. But it\u2019s the stuff that doesn\u2019t appear on the agenda that is so valuable \u2013 the conversations over coffee or lunch, the anecdotal experiences that are shared, the journeys that people have been on (metaphorical and literal!) and the connections that are made. The value of an event like this reminds us that we are all working together to create a better future for young people. That together we are stronger and more powerful. That together we are taking responsibility and ownership for making the world a better place. That together we are Our Bright Future.<\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Share, Learn Improve Coordinator, Nikki Robinson shares her thoughts on the Our Bright Future all project seminar.\u00a0 As the sun peeked over the horizon one Tuesday morning in April, all around the UK people were on the move\u2026 from Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England they came. From remote rural communities and inner cities almost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":5268,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[44],"tags":[168],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/oeof.bsb\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2161"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/oeof.bsb\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/oeof.bsb\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/oeof.bsb\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/oeof.bsb\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2161"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/oeof.bsb\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6635,"href":"http:\/\/oeof.bsb\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2161\/revisions\/6635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/oeof.bsb\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/oeof.bsb\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/oeof.bsb\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/oeof.bsb\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}