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Stress in public services: How do you unwind?

Stress in public services: How do you unwind?

"I spend time on my own with the blinds drawn and the world shut out.” So answered a staff nurse, one of the 3,700 public and voluntary sector workers who responded to a Guardian survey on wellbeing in the workplace, when answering the question: when you feel stressed, what do you do to relax? From playing heavy metal music on full blast to crocheting furiously in front of the TV, respondents had developed a wide range of ways to unwind. With 93% saying they suffer from stress at work, and more than half saying they are more stressed than this time last year, learning to clock off and manage stress has never been more important. Click here to read more
Dr Neil Thompson
May 31, 2018
The good, bad and indifferent: How an ex-resident is trying to improve residential children’s homes

The good, bad and indifferent: How an ex-resident is trying to improve residential children’s homes

I first met Bob 11 years ago when he was placed in our children’s home at the age of 15. Having experienced a chaotic and often violent upbringing, I witnessed an initially reticent and timid lad gradually develop into a confident and engaging young man. On leaving the home just before his 18th birthday, a foster home and further education were his next destinations. Out of the blue Bob contacted me recently with some exciting and unexpected news. He was now working as a full-time residential child care worker in another city and loving it. (In my experience, I am aware of only one colleague who had been in care as a child, indeed, I’m told it’s very rare). Bob and…
Dr Neil Thompson
May 31, 2018
Important notice regarding the humansolutions BULLETIN

Important notice regarding the humansolutions BULLETIN

As we notified you recently, new data protection rules are being implemented soon. To comply with the legislation, we will shortly be deleting our existing databases. Consequently, if you wish to receive news of publications, events, offers and news from Neil Thompson and the team at Avenue, you will need to join our new database. This will mean that you will continue to receive our fortnightly humansolutions e-newsletter, the occasional Learning IMPACT supplement and other ad hoc communications from time to time. If you have not already done so, please enter your email in the box on this page https://humansolutions.org.uk/bulletin/. If you have already signed up to the new database, you do not need to do anything further. Thank you.…
Dr Neil Thompson
May 17, 2018
Neil Thompson’s Lesson for Living – Don’t criticise what you don’t understand

Neil Thompson’s Lesson for Living – Don’t criticise what you don’t understand

Many years ago I came across the idea that, the further away from something you are, the simpler it appears, and that idea has stuck with me. What it was referring to was the tendency for complex matters to seem quite simple and straightforward from a distance. If you don’t have a full grasp of a situation, it is very easy indeed to oversimplify and thereby rely on a distorted picture that can be very unhelpful in a number of ways (not least in creating unnecessary tension and ill-feeling). Consider, for example, the case of domestic violence. So often I have heard people say words to the effect of: ‘If he is hitting her, why does she stay there? Why…
Dr Neil Thompson
May 17, 2018
Hidden crisis: Autistic people four times more likely to be lonely than general public

Hidden crisis: Autistic people four times more likely to be lonely than general public

Our new research suggests that autistic people are among the most isolated and lonely in the UK. We compared the results of our new survey of almost 900 autistic people with the Government’s own data and the findings indicate that autistic people are four times as likely to be lonely as the general public. Our previous research suggests that 79% of autistic people feel socially isolated. We are calling on Tracey Crouch MP, the minister with responsibility for tackling loneliness, to make sure the Government's upcoming strategy addresses the root causes of loneliness for autistic people. Tracey Crouch MP recently spoke about her work, including a visit to an autism service, at the inaugural meeting of the All Party Parliamentary…
Dr Neil Thompson
May 17, 2018
Politics at the margins

Politics at the margins

Lecture given by Alan Johnson MP at JRF and Prospect’s 4th Annual poverty lecture "When I was asked to present this year’s lecture I was a Member of Parliament and the next general election was three years away. The British people, having decided in 2015 to elect a Conservative Government with a small majority for a five-year fixed term have just been asked to decide again – Theresa May having become a convert to repeat referendums. As a result, the small majority has vanished and as for a five-year term there is some doubt as to whether this government will last five weeks.You will recall that when she stood outside No.10 to surprise the nation by calling a snap election, Mrs May…
Dr Neil Thompson
May 17, 2018
How to teach your children to be happy

How to teach your children to be happy

As parents, all we want for our children is for them to grow up happy. Compared to this one ultimate goal, others pale into insignificance. It doesn’t matter if your child has a school career festooned with string of A* exam grades and is set for a braggable future career, if they’re not happy. That means happy in themselves, happy with the world around them and armed with an ability to shrug off problems and move on. And that’s a state of mind we can nurture in our children - an acceptance of themselves, a mental contentment, a willingness to see the glass half full rather than lament the lack of more. Click here to read more
Dr Neil Thompson
May 17, 2018
Public Concern at Work – The whistleblowing charity

Public Concern at Work – The whistleblowing charity

Public Concern at Work is the whistleblowing charity. Established in 1993, we have led the new approach to whistleblowing that - both at home and abroad - recognises the key role it can play in anticipating and avoiding serious risks that arise in and from the workplace. Public Concern at Work aims to help make whistleblowing work so that dangers, wrongdoing and serious risks that threaten the public good are deterred or at least detected before serious damage is caused. We pursue this aim through our free confidential advice line, the support and services we provide to organisations, our policy work and our public education activities. Through these activities we promote the role of whistleblowing in furthering organisational accountability, individual…
Dr Neil Thompson
May 17, 2018
Neil Thompson’s Lesson for Living – Consider what your legacy will be

Neil Thompson’s Lesson for Living – Consider what your legacy will be

We can look back over our past and savour the beautiful and important moments as well as learn from the not so beautiful and the not so positive experiences. Equally, we can look back and dwell on the negatives, the mistakes, the regrets. We can also look forward and consider our future, plan ahead, anticipate and look forward positively. Or, we can look to the future with dread and anxiety, fearing the worst and thereby make our current situation quite an unpleasant one. So, whether we look forward or look back, we can focus on the positives, the negatives or a mixture of the two. But, what we have to recognise is that all this is likely to have an…
Dr Neil Thompson
May 3, 2018