My Myers Briggs profile is JFDI

It may not be cool or hip in some circles, but we legitimately do need a massive amount of people to run for office. Flood the school boards, councils, county seats, state legislatures, Congress, etc. Big changes at the top happen when the ground shifts at the bottom. And that can start now.

It was my absolute pleasure to talk at this year’s @acevo.bsky.social #ACEVOfest, with two women I respect deeply - Ngozi Fulani and Anne Fox . We shared stories of leading through very different challenges, the impact at the time & the lasting echoes - good and bad - that we feel.

Don't fall for old vs. young framing. There's more variation within age cohors than between them. Both the 1% and the 99% are made up of all ages. ca.news.yahoo.com/wealth-hoard...

Really, @bsky.app. REALLY? Can't you celebrate without being #ageist, #sexist, *and* ableist? Don't you want women, older people, and people with disabilities to feel at home on Bluesky? DO BETTER.

Lovely seeing my @blumelife.bsky.social blog pop up again! Give it a read if you want to get the right freelancer for your charity - I draw on experience as a client and a provider - including the mistakes I made so you don’t have to!

Feeling a bit embattled after Wes Streeting’s comments on the voluntary sector. Some great responses from @acevo.bsky.social and @barelycivilsociety.bsky.social which give me hope in the despair.

How often do you see older people in advertising? What products are being advertised and are they only aimed at older people? These are all great questions that we must ask ourselves and others.

‘You don’t have to be a person of faith to trust that innate human capacity to channel love, goodness, and real strength into our own lives and into the world’ Words to live by from Reverend Marian Budde

I love bench plaques, and I think might be the best one ever.

Crikey. I just watched the Alex Garland film ‘civil war’… Yes it’s close to home with current politics and the very real worries many of us have, but far more than that, the depiction of war journalism is really powerful & Kirsten Dunstable is incredible. This one’s going to sit with me for a while.

This 💟

Two calls this week so far with charity leaders facing complex changes and risk to their organisations. Doing what I can with low cost and pro Bono support, and connecting them with other good advice. Thinking of creating a starter pack for charity leaders seeking free advice - who should I add?

Here it is! The Confed briefing on the devolution white paper and what it means for the NHS and health. Hope you find it useful. @nhsconfed.bsky.social www.nhsconfed.org/publications...

It’s funny cos it’s true…

Really looking forward to #ACEVOfest 2025 - my first as a freelancer and my first as a speaker! Excited to talk about resilience, change, and what we can learn from the heartbreak of closures. Thank you @acevo.bsky.social for inviting me to be part of it!

I’ve spoken with 3 small charity CEOs this week, in personal & professional crisis due to funding worries & pressure of need for their services. I’m doing my bit offering free advice & support whenever l can. Please, do what you can to support these people - their work is vital to our communities.

👋Hey, new followers! Great to see so many new faces! 📢 We have a #StarterPack announcement! Blume is collating a pack of all the charity freelancers across the UK! If you want to be included, drop us 👋 in the comments below. Also, why not connect with our Founder @alsteve.bsky.social 🍂

"Although we count people coming in, we can’t know whether they are really migrants until 12 months later... The Migration Advisory Committee which advises government on migration, estimates that, overall, about 43% are likely to stay in the UK permanently." REALLY helpful guide to the key facts. 👇

Some important lessons for Labour from this research given the many deprived Labour held seats where (a) voters are more reliant on public services hit by austerity and (b) Reform have surged and are now the main local opposition

Volunteering rates in England are still failing to reach pre-pandemic levels, according to government research published today.

📢 #StarterPack announcement! Blume is collating a pack of all the charity freelancers across the UK! If you want to be included, drop us 👋 in the comments below. @alsteve.bsky.social | @nicolaupton.bsky.social | @barelycivilsociety.bsky.social go.bsky.app/VSrcMiu

Reposting my popular post from elsewhere. It's still relevant 6 years later. I made a handy flowchart called "Should I say resources?" Please use as needed.

I hate taking selfies but I love train travel so I wanted to capture this moment of sunny fields from a window seat. En route to run an away day with an amazing client that I’m helping create a community produced strategy. I have sharpies, coloured card, and fire for their cause 🔥

I’ve heard so many horror stories about #recruitment processes lately - sloooow responses, unclear questions, ghosting, and the rest. It takes a bit of planning but it’s not hard to give people a great experience, and your employer brand depends on it…

Got to admit, I love getting feedback! This card is from my first client, a long standing change project that I really loved working on, especially as the charity is now thriving with new capacity, confidence, and an excellent new CEO. #Consultancy #FreelanceLife #BringOn2025

The missing images bug is a good reminder of the importance of alt text. This is the experience you give to someone who can't see pictures if you don't add alt text as a description. Set your reminder to add alt text. Help keep this place fun for everyone.

Please use alt-text! There are lots of guides to how to do it, but turning on the reminder in your bluesky settings makes it easier. In very short: to tell us what we need to know about the picture, think about why you posted it. We don't need every detail, but do need what's relevant.

Autocorrect hates me 🪳

Reflecting a lot right now about how we can move from describing systemic problems (often repeatedly) to moving toward change. I don’t think we solve much by only saying what’s wrong. I’d love to hear examples of charities that are doing this brilliantly - who should I learn about?

Working on the weekend is not my favourite, but it helps to have A. A super interesting project B: supportive supervision from the chief ginger officer (Also it delights me to combine a charity post with a cat related image. Don’t judge me. But do show me your pets helping you work)

We Are Citizens Advice. Since 1939, we've been helping communities across the country with free, impartial and confidential advice. Things might have changed since 1939 but our purpose hasn't. We are the people's champion.

Am looking for your Bluesky success stories. Has your charity: - grown lots of followers fast? - connected with new peers or communities or decision markers? - had a viral success? - had greater engagement than the other place? Or is the jury still out? Keen to hear how it is going so far.

A little bit about us

You can join our new group on LinkedIn, here: www.linkedin.com/groups/13127...

If you're looking for a more diverse speaker panel for your event, look no further! We support charity event organisers to be more inclusive, so their guests hear a wider range of perspectives. Get in touch if you need support.

Well here I am on bluesky. Let’s see how it goes… If you’re interested in charity stuff, leadership stuff, change stuff, let’s connect!