News - Empathy Action

Learning How To Make A Fuss

Before the summer break, as part of our online journal, we featured our amazing volunteer, Vix. Vix was born with hearing loss and, in her brave and brilliant blog, entitled I am Deaf she has been exploring her deafness and its impact upon her life. We loved her latest instalment ‘Learning how to make a Fuss…’ It reminded us all of the importance of raising our voices to change the world, both for ourselves and others.

With Vix’s permission, we have reprinted an extract from her blog post below.

During these interesting times, putting aside my husband’s cancer diagnosis and treatment, home schooling, too many hospital visits to mention, all the mask wearing, temperature taking challenges, zoom call etiquette – I thought – why not add to my stress levels and look for a new job? I currently work part time but needed to increase our income.

For too long I’ve been hiding and not telling people I have a disability and I have actually not been doing myself any favours. I’ve struggled in the past because I’ve not told teachers/lecturers/managers that I need to lipread because it feels like I am drawing attention to myself and I am someone who likes to blend in with the background. I remember one lecturer who faced the whiteboard for almost the whole hour and I hadn’t heard a thing! I’ve sometimes told myself that I don’t need to say anything, but will speak up if I need to further down the line. Then somehow I’ve talked myself out of it as it’s terrifying to speak out in a lecture hall with a hundred other students. It goes against every fibre of my being to stand out and say to everyone, look at me! But I am different from hearing people, I am unique and there’s no one like me.

My deafness is a part of who I am and even when doing something like filling in job application forms, I’ve dithered over whether to put down that I have a disability. Sometimes I’ve ticked the box and sometimes I haven’t. I personally feel it’s almost too extreme to put disability. I’ve wondered about whether it’s possible to change the wording and just put deaf. I don’t see myself as ‘disabled’ but I am deaf. I am perfectly able. In this instance, I ticked the disabled box and explained that I needed to lipread and see people’s faces.

I have to stop worrying about what other people think and I have to get rid of that mindset that I’m making too much fuss. If I’m booked to go on a training course I have to make the trainer aware of my needs and to be honest, it still feels uncomfortable doing it. I always wonder what the other people on the course think and whether they think I’m just making a fuss. I still have to do quite a few zoom calls and will let people know from the beginning but again, I wish I didn’t have to sometimes. I’m used to hiding in the background but, by doing that, I’ve let myself down. I need to tell people so I can make my life easier and it puts me more in control of the situation. I need to stand up for me.

I actually ended up applying for two jobs and had four interviews in total. Two using zoom and two face to face. I ‘made a fuss’ and I explained how to make zoom accessible to me. Both the face to face interviews were outside and, in that environment, we were able to talk without masks. The interviewers were happy to repeat questions and were aware of the impact of background noise on our conversation.

By the way, I got the job and I can’t wait to start!

Thank you so much Vix, for sharing your story with us. Please do follow Vix’s brilliant blog here.

We’d love to hear your stories about empathy both for yourself and others. Please do get in touch!

Building Connection in Uncertain Times

At Empathy Action we thrive on building connections with people, with organisations and with communities. We believe that sharing stories binds us together and creates the space for empathy to grow. Our simulations, our handicrafts, our conversations, all share this purpose.

While we had hoped that the start of the new school year might herald a return to a new normal, times are still very uncertain and the parameters of what is possible are changing daily. Yet we would love to focus on how, despite these challenges, we can connect to each other and to our communities both here and across the globe.

Over the summer we have been considering how we reach out to each other, examining ways of running our Empathy programmes virtually and how we can replicate the experience of our Empathy Exercises while keeping everyone safe. It’s a challenge but it is one we are very much up for! Early next month, we hope to run a Covid-secure Poverty Trap experience within a school setting and we are also focussing on our incredible handicrafts, hoping to replicate the outreach and success of our Rainbow campaign over the summer.

Going forward, we aim to deliver more Empathy experiences and programmes virtually and, where possible and safe, in person. If you are interested in volunteering with us or if you’d like to know more, please do get in touch.

And keep watching this space, as over the next few weeks, we share the ever-evolving stories of our makers and their products as they too adapt to our changing world.

Time for Reflection

As the summer holidays begin, we asked our incredible Team Empathy to reflect upon these unprecedented few months and share what has resonated with them most during this time.

We’ve collated their reflective words below.

We hope that these words also resonate with you. They remind us of what we have learned and what we can choose to take with us as we emerge from this time of crisis.

We wish you all a peaceful and restful summer. We’re so looking forward to sharing more Empathy ideas and stories with you in the autumn!

Choosing to listen

Imagine: a trip overseas, a drink with friends, a much-needed haircut. All these pursuits are now possible. Summer has arrived along with its team sports, outdoor performances, barbeques, picnics and ice creams.

Panic buying is over and spirits are brightening as people come together and share stories of lockdown, as if it’s an event of the past. Life is – it seems – returning to an approximation of ‘normal’. Even traffic is once again a thing.

Now, imagine the elderly woman still alone in her home because she is ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’. Sometimes she goes for a week without seeing a single soul. She is sharp as a whip and is aware that isolation is making her frailty worse and her mind slow down.

Imagine, too, the man who works in the supermarket. He’s scared for his father who has underlying health issues and depends on him. Shops are now busier and shoppers are more relaxed – many do not wear face masks and some get too close. The man knows he is lucky to have work, yet he also knows that he needs to keep himself and his father safe.

There are many more people we could imagine: the woman who is paralysed by her fear of catching coronavirus. She prefers to play it safe and stay cooped up in her flat, despite her friends’ reassurances. Or the man who is beset by concerns about a different disease, but doesn’t want to burden the medics. Or the young couple worried about their future now that both are unemployed.

And imagine the abused children who suffered in silence long before COVID-19 was a headline. They still do.

The pandemic has allowed strong characteristics to flourish. The kind that are “the best in people”.

Volunteer-based initiatives have been welcomed far and wide, and we have innovated and adapted in life-affirming ways (some of which we may want to keep). And the accelerated laser-like focus on key issues has been hard but necessary. Many are waking up to problems which have lingered under the radar for too long.

The story of the pandemic is messy and ongoing.

Lockdown is easing (for now) but there is no vaccine yet. We have to learn how to accommodate the disease and remember to stay connected.

Busier streets render those locked behind front doors more invisible still. Let’s listen to the woman – so aware of her vulnerability – when she wonders, without a shred of self-pity, whether she will outlast the pandemic. And look behind the smile of the man at the checkout as he serves you and thinks of his father.

The world needs characters like these more than ever. Ones who will lead us and not leave people behind. Ones who will remember that others are vulnerable.

The opportunities to choose empathy today are greater than ever.

Empathy Action 2.0

This is an exciting and creative moment for Empathy Action.”

Over these last months we’ve been exploring how to continue our work of crafting and curating experiences that build empathy and encourage compassionate action. In these changing times, we’ve been inspired to consider how we can adapt our message of choosing empathy and its importance within our communities and across the world.

We are applying our expertise to create new, innovative programmes offering bespoke empathy experiences that can be delivered remotely or with smaller teams.”

It’s a great time to speak to us particularly if, like us, you’re thinking about what you can do differently.

Whether it’s a virtual classroom visit, an in-depth empathy exercise or access to our bank of resources, we’d love to hear from you!

The pandemic has allowed strong characteristics to flourish. The kind that are “the best in people”.

The story of the pandemic is messy and ongoing.

The opportunities to choose empathy today are greater than ever.

This is an exciting and creative moment for Empathy Action.”

We are applying our expertise to create new, innovative programmes offering bespoke empathy experiences that can be delivered remotely or with smaller teams.”