1. Kindness in North Ayrshire

2. Dependence on services
Why is kindness important?
Communities
Organisations
Place
Wellbeing
Power
Falling
trust in institutions
Loneliness &
isolation
Empowerment
Dependence on services
Growing demand for
services

3. What do we mean by kindness?
Communities
Organisations
Systems/ Structures
Individuals
Relational kindness
Random kindness
Radical
kindness

4. What have we learned? Welcoming Places
Examples of low key interventions to change perceptions of space & encourage connections
Differences between voluntary and statutory provision
Purpose of use
Time limitations
Harder to move from highlighting positive examples to change problematic spaces

5. What have we learned? Informal Opportunities
Lots of examples of informal opportunities for connection
Especially using food!
Complicated relationship between the presence/requirement of organisations and the need for informality

6. What have we learned? Questioning Values
Lots of goodwill around general kindness messages
Deepening understanding through deliberative conversation
Challenging system issues

7. What have we learned? Organisational Cultures
Unwillingness to take risks
Impact of regulation and professional boundaries
Reluctance to let go of performance management
Fear of ‘radical kindness’
Practical steps to make kindness feel real…

9. North Ayrshire Kindness Promise
We will strive to create the conditions for kindness in our organisations and for the people we serve by:
trusting our staff to make meaningful connections with people
protecting time and creating spaces for people to come together
listening to people’s needs and finding solutions in the round, not just addressing our bit of the picture
creating opportunities to recognise and celebrate kindness
creating a culture where people are more important than processes and enabling unkindness to be called out
ensuring our performance management aligns with our values and committing to ask our staff and those we serve if they experience kindness

10. Aims for next 6 months Implementing Kindness Promise
Build on empowered network
Peer researchers – core team to drive change
Involve public, private and third sector
Embed in whole system change

11. Can we make this about system change