Held at Louis le Prince Court on Saturday 22 February, this meeting centred on the theme of trust: what does it take to trust someone, when have we felt the trust of our peers, and what that means for fostering greater community togetherness.
We found that:
- Displays of compassion matter, especially the desire to take action based on feelings of empathy. Behaviours mentioned included being welcomed, looked after, and cared about
- A high value was placed on sticking to promises made consistently: People are willing to trust those who show up when they say they will and do what they say. Honesty and transparency are key
- In contrast, we are more likely to lose trust when we are ignored. It is also hard to trust if you feel betrayed
- Building close relationships with the aim of making us safe allows people to open up in confidence
- If you listen, and validate the concerns of the person you are listening to, free of suspicion, then you are more likely to gain their trust
- Some of us said that they can trust someone who is vulnerable with them, whereas others responded positively to unconditional support / love, with no expectations placed upon them
- A degree of comfort is needed between people to confirm trust. An example of this was feeling safe enough to be in the same space physically
- We identified sharing experiences as a way to gain trust, through transmitting truths about each other. In particular, we found that sharing gets easier face-to-face, with likeminded people. A humour and warmth was talked about as a way of establishing and building a connection between each other
- Trust is something that is built up over time, usually amongst friends.
Either side of this, two different somatic exercises helped bring us into the space, and closed the session, the latter – a qigong grounding activity – led by our very own Amina.
The theme of the next meeting (date: 22 March) is Weaving our eco systems of care.
RISE! REPAIR! REBUILD! is a monthly forum hosted by Harehills Action Team, Racial Justice Network, and StopWatch. For more information on the project, you can contact the group via riserepairrebuild@gmail.com.