R Talks: Exploring Relational Social Policy

In this episode, Michael, Ratio Talks's co-host, and Pritpal, our resident community power expert who's based in Sao Paolo, Brazil, meet for the first time in person to conclude the podcast series. They discuss the series as a whole and the observations that listeners in Australia, the United States and England sent to us in short audio memos. The conversation starts off with the phrase that touched everyone's chord: powerlessness kills from podcast guest Tony Iton of California Endowment. In their conversation, Michael and Pritpal mention: john a. powell, director of Othering and Belonging Institute Sir Michael Marmot on the social determinants of health The Nuka System of Care Upswing by Robert Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett Sherry R Arnstein's ladder of participation The epilogue between Michael and Pritpal reflects their views. Subscribe to Ratio's Newsletter here and find out more about Pritpal S Tamber's work here. Get in touch with us any time by sending an email to hello@ratio.org.uk. Ratio Talks is produced with the help of sound designer Nik Paget-Tomlinson and creative director Richard De Angelis. The show's theme song is by Luca Picardi. *** In this series, Michael is exploring community power — what it is, how it's linked to better outcomes, such as health, and what its limitations are. The series is in collaboration with Pritpal S Tamber, a researcher and consultant on the link between community power and health, and a Non-Executive Director of Ratio.

In this episode, Michael talks to Donna Hall, the former Chief Executive at Wigan Council. During the UK government's austerity programme, the council suffered the third worst cuts in the UK – about £100 million. In response, Donna explored and initiated a new way of working with the people of Wigan, one that involved a deeper, less transactional relationship with them and built from their aspirations and ‘assets'. Although the work (now called the Wigan Deal) is not the same as community power, as described in this series, it has paved the way for the public sector in the UK to understand what it might mean to work with communities with power. The Wigan Deal was extensively described an analysed in this body of work from the King's Fund, a health think tank in England. The epilogue between Michael and Pritpal reflects their views, not necessarily Donna's. Subscribe to Ratio's Newsletter here and find out more about Pritpal S Tamber's work here. Get in touch with us any time by sending an email to hello@ratio.org.uk. Ratio Talks is produced with the help of sound designer Nik Paget-Tomlinson and creative director Richard De Angelis. The show's theme song is by Luca Picardi. In this series, Michael is exploring community power — what it is, how it's linked to better outcomes, such as health, and what its limitations are. The series is in collaboration with Pritpal S Tamber, a researcher and consultant on the link between community power and health, and a Non-Executive Director of Ratio.

In this episode, Michael talks to Tony Iton, a Senior Vice President of the California Endowment, the foundation that has placed people power at the heart of its strategy for health equity. Tony describes how, as the former Health Officer of Alameda County Public Health Department, he came to appreciate the importance of resources and opportunities to health, and the role that structures play within that. And he gives examples of how organised communities across California have changed their conditions. As mentioned in the episode, Tony and Pritpal have been working together for the last few years. They have produced a review of the health research linking community power and health and a Policy Insight article in Health Affairs, entitled Building Community Power To Dismantle Policy-Based Structural Inequity In Population Health. Their work is ongoing. The epilogue between Michael and Pritpal reflects their views, not necessarily Tony's. Subscribe to Ratio's Newsletter here and find out more about Pritpal S Tamber's work here. Get in touch with us any time by sending an email to hello@ratio.org.uk. Ratio Talks is produced with the help of sound designer Nik Paget-Tomlinson and creative director Richard De Angelis. The show's theme song is by Luca Picardi. In this series, Michael is exploring community power — what it is, how it's linked to better outcomes, such as health, and what its limitations are. The series is in collaboration with Pritpal S Tamber, a researcher and consultant on the link between community power and health, and a Non-Executive Director of Ratio.

In this episode, Michael talks to Katherine Zappone, one of the architects of same-sex marriage in Ireland. Katherine describes her early work, with her partner and fellow educator, Ann Louise Gillighan, in providing ‘classes' to local working-class women to help build their confidence. Their approach was to create a dialogue with the women that might spur them to action. It was a similar approach to the one made famous by Paulo Freire, the Brazilian educator with whom they occasionally collaborated with. In the community organising world, this way of working might be described as part of base building. Katherine then goes on to describe their work to make same-sex marriage possible in Ireland of which there is a documentary. The epilogue between Michael and Pritpal reflects their views, not necessarily Katherine's. Subscribe to Ratio's Newsletter here and find out more about Pritpal S Tamber's work here. Get in touch with us any time by sending an email to hello@ratio.org.uk. Ratio Talks is produced with the help of sound designer Nik Paget-Tomlinson and creative director Richard De Angelis. The show's theme song is by Luca Picardi. In this series, Michael is exploring community power — what it is, how it's linked to better outcomes, such as health, and what its limitations are. The series is in collaboration with Pritpal S Tamber, a researcher and consultant on the link between community power and health, and a Non-Executive Director of Ratio.

In this episode, Michael talks to three organisers, Olivia Masoja, Marzena Zukowska, and Stephanie Wong. They talk about how power is built, the importance of relationships, and how what's key to societal change is the pursuit of justice rather than the provision of charity. The epilogue between Michael and Pritpal reflects their views, not necessarily the organisers'. Subscribe to Ratio's Newsletter here and find out more about Pritpal S Tamber's work here. Get in touch with us any time by sending an email to hello@ratio.org.uk. Ratio Talks is produced with the help of sound designer Nik Paget-Tomlinson and creative director Richard De Angelis. The show's theme song is by Luca Picardi. In this series, Michael is exploring community power — what it is, how it's linked to better outcomes, such as health, and what its limitations are. The series is in collaboration with Pritpal S Tamber, a researcher and consultant on the link between community power and health, and a Non-Executive Director of Ratio.

In this episode, Michael talks to Leigh Carroll, an organiser with United Homecare Workers of Pennsylvania, and Lynn Weidner, a member organiser within the same union. Homecare workers often work without health insurance, paid leave, sick leave and paid overtime. Lynn describes what it was like working in such conditions and how things have changed since joining the union. Leigh describes the work of a union organiser and why it's about more than pickets and placards. The epilogue between Michael and Pritpal reflects their views, not necessarily Leigh's or Lynn's. Subscribe to Ratio's Newsletter here and find out more about Pritpal S Tamber's work here. Get in touch with us any time by sending an email to hello@ratio.org.uk. Ratio Talks is produced with the help of sound designer Nik Paget-Tomlinson and creative director Richard De Angelis. The show's theme song is by Luca Picardi. In this series, Michael is exploring community power — what it is, how it's linked to better outcomes, such as health, and what its limitations are. The series is in collaboration with Pritpal S Tamber, a researcher and consultant on the link between community power and health, and a Non-Executive Director of Ratio.

In this series, Michael is exploring community power — what it is, how it's linked to better outcomes, such as health, and what its limitations are. The series is in collaboration with Pritpal S Tamber, a researcher and consultant on the link between community power and health, and a Non-Executive Director of Ratio. In this episode, Michael talks to Martha Mackenzie, Executive Director of the UK-based Civic Power Fund. Martha describes what community organising is, how it creates power in communities, and what it means for democracy. Martha also talks about why community power seems to be in vogue in the UK right now. Along the way, Martha mentions: The work of Jane Mcalevey, an organiser, scholar and author The ideas of Ella Baker, a largely behind-the-scenes organiser who worked alongside the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. And Neil Stott, now a professor at the University of Cambridge and previously a leader in the practice of community development The epilogue between Michael and Pritpal reflects their views, not necessarily Martha's. Subscribe to Ratio's Newsletter here and find out more about Pritpal S Tamber's work here. Get in touch with us any time by sending an email to hello@ratio.org.uk. Ratio Talks is produced with the help of sound designer Nik Paget-Tomlinson and creative director Richard De Angelis. The show's theme song is by Luca Picardi.

In this series, Michael is exploring community power — what it is, how it's linked to better outcomes, such as health, and what its limitations are. The series is in collaboration with Pritpal S Tamber, a researcher and consultant on the link between community power and health, and a Non-Executive Director of Ratio. In this episode, Michael talks to Paul W. Speer, a Professor in the Department of Human and Organizational Development at Peabody College in Vanderbilt University. Paul shares his insights through a series of anecdotes. To learn more about Paul's work, consider the following: Paul is worried about our ability to form relationships; he explains why in this 2018 article describing three interrelated trends threatening developing social relationships Although he does not mention it in the episode, Paul is clear-eyed about what kind of change matters. He calls it ‘restructuring', which is described in this 1988 article by Edward Seidman, a Professor of Applied Psychology at NYU Paul and colleagues have studied ISAIAH, a multi-racial, nonpartisan coalition of faith communities fighting for racial and economic justice in Minnesota. It's considered to be at the leading edge of how community power can pursue equity. See Paul's study here The epilogue between Michael and Pritpal reflects their views, not necessarily Paul's. Subscribe to Ratio's Newsletter here and find out more about Pritpal S Tamber's work here. Get in touch with us any time by sending an email to hello@ratio.org.uk. Ratio Talks is produced with the help of sound designer Nik Paget-Tomlinson and creative director Richard De Angelis. The show's theme song is by Luca Picardi.

In this series, Michael is exploring community power — what it is, how it's linked to better outcomes, such as health, and what its limitations are. The series is in collaboration with Pritpal S Tamber, a researcher and consultant on the link between community power and health, and a Non-Executive Director of Ratio. In this episode, Michael talks to Jennie Popay, a Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Public Health at Lancaster University in the UK. Jennie's insights on the outward gaze and the Emancipatory Power Framework were described in the article, Power, control, communities and health inequalities I: theories, concepts and analytical frameworks, published in Health Promotion International Her view on the need to ‘map' power in communities refers to the Emancipatory Power Framework and the Limiting Power Framework, the latter of which is also described in the above article Limiting Power Framework draws on Barnett and Duvall's 2005 article on how power is inadequately conceptualised and Gaventa's 2009 article on the nature of power relationships in citizen engagement The aforementioned article in Health Promotion International is the first of a trilogy; the second looks at how to measure shifts in power and the third looks at the role of spaces in the process of power shifting The trilogy of articles described above are based on their analysis of 15 of the 150 localities in Big Local, a long-term ‘empowerment' initiative in England The multimedia evaluation of Big Local, which Jennie mentions, can be found here Jennie's ideas on resilience, including the ‘neighbourhood system resilience' model were described in the article, System resilience and neighbourhood action on social determinants of health inequalities: an English Case Study, published in Perspectives in Public Health And her analysis of the impact of community empowerment initiatives on the mental wellbeing of participants is described in the article, Community empowerment and mental wellbeing: longitudinal findings from a survey of people actively involved in the big local place-based initiative in England, published in the Journal of Public Health The epilogue between Michael and Pritpal reflects their views, not necessarily Jennie's. Subscribe to Ratio's Newsletter here and find out more about Pritpal S Tamber's work here. Get in touch with us any time by sending an email to hello@ratio.org.uk. Ratio Talks is produced with the help of sound designer Nik Paget-Tomlinson and creative director Richard De Angelis. The show's theme song is by Luca Picardi.

In this series, Michael is exploring community power — what it is, how it's linked to better outcomes, such as health, and what its limitations are. The series is in collaboration with Pritpal S Tamber, a researcher and consultant on the link between community power and health. In this episode, Michael talks to Jonathan Heller, co-founder of Human Impact Partners and co-creator of the Health Equity Guide. Jonathan mentions the following: Margaret Whitehead's definition of inequity in health, which was taken from her seminal paper, The concepts and principles of equity and health [PubMed]The Health Equity Guide, a project of Human Impact Partners showcasing strategic practices to confront the power imbalances that are at the root of health inequitiesSteven Lukes' theory of power having three faces, which you can read about in the new edition of his seminal book or listen to in this podcast episodeSystemic and structural racism, which you can learn more about in this 2022 article by Paula A Braveman and colleaguesA report by USC Dornsife's Equity Research Institute (see the bottom of this page) that includes a definition of community power (see below) The definition of community power that Jonathan uses is the ability of communities most impacted by structural inequity to develop, sustain, and grow an organized base of people who act together through democratic structures to set agendas, shift public discourse, influence who makes decisions, and cultivate ongoing relationships of mutual accountability with decision makers that change systems and advance health equity (see the bullet above for the source). Related reading: For an excellent discussion on why ‘behaviour change' endures in health promotion despite its failure to reduce health inequities see Baum & Fisher 2014 [PubMed]Jonathan has created a short course with the University of Wisconsin entitled ‘Building Power for Health Equity', the impressive syllabus of which is available online Subscribe to Ratio's Newsletter here and find out more about Pritpal S Tamber's work here. Get in touch with us any time by sending an email to hello@ratio.org.uk. Ratio Talks is produced with the help of sound designer Nik Paget-Tomlinson and creative director Richard De Angelis. The show's theme song is by Luca Picardi.

Ratio Talks is a podcast from Ratio, an organisation exploring how social connection shapes health and development. It is hosted by Michael Little, a co-founder of Ratio. In this series, Michael is exploring community power — what it is, how it's linked to better outcomes, such as health, and what its limitations are. The series is in collaboration with Pritpal S Tamber, a researcher and consultant on the link between community power and health. In this episode, Pritpal sets the scene on what is community power and why it is so important. He mentions the following: Control and Health: An Epidemiological perspective: A 1990 book chapter by S. Leonard SymeHow could differences in ‘control over destiny' lead to socio-economic inequalities in health? A synthesis of theories and pathways in the living environment: A 2016 research article by Margaret Whitehead and colleagues Social determinants of health: WHO's definition that mentions the “forces and systems” that shape daily lifeHealth Equity Guide: A project of Human Impact Partners (Oakland, CA, USA) showcasing strategic practices to confront the power imbalances that are at the root of health inequitiesPower, control, communities and health inequalities I: theories, concepts and analytical frameworks: A 2021 research article by Jennie Popay and colleagues that describes the inward and outward gaze of community power Communities of Opportunity: The project in King County (Washington State, USA) in which the health department is working towards making itself accountable to communities Pritpal's full definition of community power builds on the work of the USC Dornsife Equity Research Institute (see below) and was developed with Anthony Iton and Robert K Ross of the California Endowment. It is the ability of people facing similar circumstances to develop, sustain, and grow an organized base of people who act together through democratic structures to set agendas, shift public discourse, influence who makes decisions, and cultivate ongoing relationships of mutual accountability with decision makers who change systems and advance health equity. Related reading: For an excellent discussion of systemic and structural bias (such as racism), see this 2022 article by Paula A Braveman and colleagues For a deeper understanding of community power-building, including a definition of base building, see this 2020 report by the USC Dornsife Equity Research Institute (second report on the page) Subscribe to Ratio's Newsletter here and find out more about Pritpal S Tamber's work here. Get in touch with us any time by sending an email to hello@ratio.org.uk.

We conclude this series of podcasts linked to the publication How To Be Wrong with Don Berwick, renowned health policy maker and scientist. Don's short paper Era 3 for Medicine and Health Care was the catalyst for the network that produced the How To Be Wrong paper. In this podcast, Don reflects on the paper, its reception and the prospects for new ways of thinking about learning.

Frank Oberklaid is a paediatrician at the Royal Melbourne Children's Hospital where he founded the Centre for Community Child Health.  During the podcast Frank refers to several pioneers in the field of paediatrics...

Nick Chater is Professor of Behavioural Science at the Warwick Business School, and author with George Loewenstein of The i-Frame and the s-Frame: How Focusing on Individual-Level Solutions Has Led Behavioral Public Policy Astray. The i-frame refers to science and policy focused on changing individuals. The s-frame concentrates on everything around the individual. As Nick explains in this episode, our hunger in the last decades for the i-frame has diverted our attention from the benefits of the s-frame. 

Sarah Davidson is Chief Executive of Carnegie UK Trust. Echoing Patrick McCarthy in the last podcast, Sarah brings to the work of the Trust her experience as a senior civil servant in Scottish Government. Carnegie Trust is focused on Collective Well-being. In this episode Sarah discusses the shifting culture of funding and learning within the...

Patrick McCarthy is past President of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the largest funder of social change for children and families in the United States. The Foundation is strongly invested in disadvantaged communities. Not all of those investments have paid off, but a commitment to evidence means there is always a legacy of learning. Patrick takes us through some of the lessons he has learned in over 30 years of public service, with a particular eye to the do's and don'ts of working in place.

Ann Johnson and Dan Hastings are the focus for place based work in Telford and Great Yarmouth. Their efforts are the result of a new way of working for the Lloyds Bank Foundation. Not so much about money. Or power. More about acting as the catalyst for new conversations about public policy. The work is new. It started in the pandemic.

Nick Davies is co-author of a report on the use of government targets. In this podcast he gives a series of examples of targets saving people's lives and targets not only getting in the way of learning but acting as a source of deception.

Ken Masser leads a large organisation delivering Sport and Leisure services. But he is also learning how to make place the focus of learning about how to get more people involved in physical activity. That means looking well beyond gyms and pools and soccer pitches. Sport England programme is building a movement around of people like Ken and places like Rossendale.

Jill Baker from the Lloyds Bank Foundation, Richard Haigh from The Key and Laura Seebohm from the Maternal Health Alliance are all members of the How To Be Wrong network. They reflect on the network discussions and the impact it has had on the work they lead.

Ratio and The Law Family Commission on Civil Society supported by Pro Bono Economics, organised a podcast and an event to think afresh about loneliness, and the role civil society has to play in solving it. This note summarises the insights of our presenters – you can watch the full event or listen to the podcast by clicking the link above.

This episode provides preparation for a seminar on developing a cross-sectoral approach to tackling loneliness.

John Hitchin at Renaisi has a long track record in learning about the ways in which place can impact on well-being. He reflects here on how we learn about place.

John Hitchin is Chief Executive of Renaisi, an organisation dedicated to improving places. He has contributed to the How to be Wrong network since its inception. He talks here about how some of the ideas in the interim report have derived from and inform the work of Renaisi, and the prospects for the relationship between evidence and policy. In the conversation with John, Michael refers to his essay (https://renaisi.com/2019/05/13/concept-of-place-in-policy-essay/) You can’t get there from here and a short blog (https://renaisi.com/2020/02/03/what-do-people-mean-when-they-talk-about-place-based-change/) John wrote in response to the How to be Wrong report.

Banerjee and Duflo’s book Poor Economics Commentary by RATIO

Iain MacRitchie, philanthropist and founder of MCR Pathways, returns for Love in Covid Times to discuss how the pandemic has impacted young people in or on the edge of care. MCR Pathways is changing the educational outcomes of disadvantaged young people through relationships with community volunteers. Read more: https://mcrpathways.org/put-relationships-at-the-heart-of-recovery-and-fuse-social-and-economic-policies/ https://mcrpathways.org/respectfully-disruptive-is-the-way-to-progress/ https://mcrpathways.org/re-floating-the-economy-is-a-health-and-wellbeing-emergency/

Iain MacRitchie, philanthropist and founder of MCR Pathways, returns to the podcast to discuss how the pandemic has impacted young people in or on the edge of foster care.

Claire Wightman from Grapevine— a pioneering example in Coventry of how challenges get solved locally— on looking inwards, not outwards, to find the answer of how to respond to the pandemic.

Grapevine brings people together to help them solve problems in their communities. The pandemic means new problems and new ways of bringing people together. As Clare explains, it also means new opportunities. Among a host of innovations, Grapevine has been experimenting with ‘collaboration stations', a space for conversation that appears to be engaging new actors and generating new ideas. https://www.grapevinecovandwarks.org

Covid19 has not caused but revealed food insecurity. Leader of the Pembroke House Settlement Mike Wilson on the value of food and neighbourhood during and beyond the pandemic.

The settlement movement established to connect advantaged and disadvantaged communities in the 19th Century helped to forge the welfare state in the U.K., and underpinned the nursing and social work professions in the U.S. Mike Wilson and colleagues at the Pembroke House have been building a Settlement for the 21st Century. That work has both gone on hold and been significantly advanced by the need to respond to the pandemic. In this episode Mike talks about food insecurity, and how in classic settlement style, it has brought together people across the Walworth community in South London. https://www.pembrokehouse.org.uk

We have learnt that we are not as self-sufficient as we as think. Chief Executive of Bury Council Geoff Little talks about managing the response to the pandemic from the kitchen table, and how the learning from this period can help the Council build back better.

Local councils are prepared for disaster, for terrorist attacks, for major fires, and for health emergencies. Chief Executive of Bury Council Geoff Little talks about managing the response to the pandemic from the kitchen table, and how the learning from this period can help the Council build back better. In Bury the Chief Executive is the health commissioner, which in Covid times means providing leadership on sheltering, testing and vaccination. The balance between central and local government. The role of local council as enabler, creating the conditions for community to flourish and business to recover. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bury,_Greater_Manchester

We return to Transforming Choice, a relational approach to responding to alcohol addiction. Jay Keenan, a former graduate and now a worker in the programme, talks about those who graduated during the pandemic. Graduation is typically a moment when everyone celebrates the hard work with their loves ones. This time, it was different.

In an earlier episode we talked to Mick Ashton a worker at Transforming Choice, a new approach for people addicted to alcohol. Mick explained the ‘show must go on' attitude at Transforming Choice. A few months on, the programme has completed. Graduation is typically a moment when everyone celebrates the hard work with their loves ones. This time, as Jay Keenan explains, it was different. https://transformingchoice.co.uk

You are used to being inside..Recently released from Dartmoor Prison, Darren compares locked up life to life in lockdown.

Darren was released from Dartmoor only to be imprisoned by the lockdown. He describes his ways of coping, the ways in which his participating with Prison Choir Project in Dartmoor has motivated him to remain involved with the arts, albeit online, and on the value of mental health support via Zoom.

Terry Conway, a member of the Finsbury Park Mutual Aid group, talks about her experiences over the last three months. Participation, she finds, deepens connection with community, even for long-standing residents.

During the first lockdown there was a surge in volunteering and community activism, most obvious in the work of ‘mutual aid' groups. As the Bennett Institute for Public Policy observed, mutual aid is a manifestation of social capital in the community, which means it is strong in some areas but not in others. There is strong social capital in Finsbury Park, North London. Terry Conway launched herself into a mutual aid group in the ward and found that the response deepened connection with community, even for long-standing residents. https://www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/blog/social-capital-and-response-covid-19/

Give a Day brings together citizens who want to give something in their community with citizens who have identified a need in their community. It also links in local champions, people and organisations that want to give resources -food, building materials, or access to labour. Andy Fearon, social activist in Carlisle and of the founders of Give a Day, talks about the community's response to the pandemic.

Andy Fearon leads Vineyard Church in Carlisle, and with Miriam Lowe has created Give a Day, an opportunity for citizens to give something to their community once a year. Nobody could come to church during the first lockdown, so the church started to come to the people. Give a Day became give every day. The pandemic, for Andy, is testament to our ability to adapt. http://giveadaytothecity.org

Audio input for BD_Collective.

Thread builds a family of volunteers around high school students struggling to stay the course. Nikhil Gupta speaks to us from Baltimore about how Thread and the young people are adapting to the crisis. Read more about Thread in David Brooks' The Second Mountain, and at: www.thread.org

Thread builds a family of volunteers around struggling high school students. It is a decade long commitment. It has to endure all crises, a pandemic included. In this episode Nikhil Gupta speaks to us from Baltimore about how Thread and the young people they support are adapting to the crisis. Read more about Thread in David Brooks’ The Second Mountain, and at: https://www.thread.org

Self-reliant groups are collectives of women -there are some men but it is mostly women- coming together to save, make loans to each other and support enterprise. It is hard to keep count, but there are around 10 million of these groups worldwide. In this episode, Karen from Johnstone in Scotland and Indira from Rotterdam meet each other online for the first time, and discuss their respective groups and how they have adapted to life after lockdown. http://www.wevolution.org.uk

Self-reliant groups are collectives of women -there are some men but it is mostly women- coming together to save, make loans to each other and support enterprise. It is hard to keep count, but there are around 10 million of these groups worldwide. In this episode, Karen from Johnstone in Scotland and Indira from Rotterdam meet each other online for the first time, and discuss their respective groups and how they have adapted to life after lockdown.

When Ratio looked for places around the world that exemplified best relational practice, the name Roca Inc. kept coming up.  They have worked with the highest risk young people in communities across Massachusetts since 1988. They are relentless. They never give up. But whereas the pandemic created opportunities for some organisations, for Roca and the several hundred young people they support it erected a series of obstacles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWIej2tOWpI

When Ratio looked for places around the world that exemplified best relational practice, the name Roca Inc. kept coming up. The following video gives some insight into how they work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=IWIej2tOWpI&feature=emb_logo In this episode Anisha Chablani-Medley talks about the devastating impact of the pandemic on the organisation, and on the young people they serve.

Sue Shelley has helped Ratio understand the role of a relational worker, someone who makes a difference mainly through their connection to the people they help. Sue works with the most disadvantaged young people in Liverpool, several of whom have also been subjects of Ratio's research. Here we find Sue relatively unfazed by the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, and finding new ways to keep her young people stay engaged and focused. https://cominofoundation.org.uk/pdf/Windsor_Consultation_2012.pdf

Sue Shelley has long been viewed by Ratio as an exemplar of relational working, helping the most disadvantaged young people in Liverpool find some footing back in mainstream society. Sue seems relatively unfazed by the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, finding new ways to keep her young people engaged and focused.

Karen Wint leads the Women's Health and Family Services in East London. They match pregnant women with ‘maternity mates', women who have children and live in the same community. Most of the women are on the margins of mainstream society, many are refugees. Karen describes the rapid and radical shifts in practice induced by the pandemic, and the associated opportunities and challenges. http://whfs.org.uk/index.php/what-we-do/maternity-mates