Featured Volunteer - Lizzie
Hiding in plain sight
Lizzie alighted in Bridport recently, easily-recognisable in her cyan blue coat and matching glasses with flashes of orange, like a tropical bird, blown off course on its way to warmer climes! So, who is she? And why is she hiding in plain sight?
Lizzie describes herself as a coach, facilitator and learning designer for large organisations. She started out, however, as an EFL teacher, working with young people and adults in a number of countries and resumed the role supporting Ukrainian pupils in developing their English. She loved connecting with their interests and culture to help them express themselves fluently and, most importantly, with confidence. In fact, it was early on, while she was teaching English in the Netherlands that she had an epiphany of sorts; the English language wasn’t the problem, so much as facilitating meaningful dialogue between people. -articulating the self, whilst creating meaningful dialogue.
As someone who is self-employed, she outlined the importance of engaging with the local community, finding like-minded people – a tribe that gives a sense of purpose beyond the self. Scanning the “Get Involved” pages of The Bridge, she came across The Bank of Dreams and Nightmares and was immediately attracted by the playfulness of the name and the mention of creative writing. Lizzie also has a passion for writing and art and believes firmly in their role in both helping us express our relationship with the self and the outside world.
She says:
“I was a bit nervous signing up for the Induction, worried that I might not fit in, but I could not have been more wrong. I just loved the energy and immediately felt a sense of belonging. Then came the workshops… bonkers, brilliant and so empowering! Modern society poses all sorts of challenges for the young and to address this we need opportunities to communicate, collaborate and problem solve, to be innovative and creative. Yet these are precisely the things being squeezed out of mainstream curricula. There’s an impact on individual and collective mental health, especially for those less suited to standardized education; only a small percentage really thrive in the controlled orderliness of the classroom. Creative writing, art, music and drama all facilitate self-discovery; how can you express yourself freely if you are not given the space and the means to do so? It’s so important to self-develop, to find your own talents and embrace your uniqueness. To unleash creativity, you need to create the right space and let the chaos in!”
Do you have a favourite workshop?
“I really enjoy working with teenagers! There’s a much more powerful reward when you’ve gained the trust of a teen – it’s a real privilege – and more important than ever to build positive relationships with young people. But the primary-aged pupils are just joyous and so full of bonkers ideas; you ride out on the energy and creativity, and it makes you re-evaluate your day. It’s so easy to get caught up in a churn of problematic day-to-day stuff; spending fully-immersed time with kids gives your brain a rest from the real world!”
And if you had a super power, what would it be?
“My super power would be a special torch to shine on talent. So many ideas are squished, dismissed or denied; I would love to be able to help people find what they are good at and shine a light on it.”
And finally, back to the “hiding in plain sight”?
“It’s easy to judge people, and situations at a superficial level, but it’s not until you create a meaningful dialogue that you realise how much more there is. At The Bank it looks like the children and young adults are just having fun and doing a bit of writing, but that’s just the beginning. It is profoundly positive, confidence-building and empowering – even a little bit subversive. I love it!
Thank you, Lizzie.