Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Peace Foundation working in partnership with Salford City Council.  

Supporting people in “Having Difficult Conversations”.

Whether it’s Customer Service Team members in Northwest England, who need to be able to ‘de-escalate’ situations which can develop with customers and residents, or

Youth Workers in the Midlands who want to talk with young people about sexism and misogyny, in the wake of publicity about Andrew Tate and the ‘incel’ problem, or

Volunteers in Nottingham taking part in a ‘community champions’ program to promote positive health messages in their networks and neighborhoods and who face ‘conspiracy theories’ about Covid vaccines, or

Salford City Council Officers who anticipated the potential for ‘tricky situations’ and wanted to be prepared for the first election where residents were required to bring photographic ID in order to vote and turned up without it.

These are just some of the many interventions made by the Peace Foundation over the last few months, running innovative sessions for professionals and volunteers with a wide range of organisations. We explore what happens when people are in dispute and when there’s a need to explain something you know someone else won’t be happy about, or when you need to engage with someone in relation to unpalatable or unreasonable views they are drawn towards.

Peace Foundation Programme Director, Ann Snagg says ‘we’ve developed these bespoke sessions around “having difficult conversations” in response to a range of requests from people working in varied front-line situations. Over the years, we’ve developed our models and understanding of what is happening when people are in dispute, whether it is children in the playground, residents in local neighborhoods, or those involved in serious violent conflicts.

‘These sessions take what we’ve learned and make it relevant to issues arising for the people who attend. We offer two-hour sessions, half-days, or a full day programme. The material is always adapted to fit our participants’ needs. We pitch things at an appropriate level, given whatever the level of dispute or what kind of “tricky” challenges people are facing.

We aim to provide participants with tips and techniques they will find helpful and can use in their working roles – and more widely. Our facilitators can deliver sessions in-person or online, and feedback proves that taking part in “having difficult conversations” helps underpin and build peoples’ confidence in their roles – and because the sessions are interactive, they are interesting and fun!’.

If you would like to find out more, or to arrange for the Peace Foundation to run a “having difficult conversations” programme for your organisation or partnership, please contact Ann on info@peace-foundation.org.uk or call us on 01925 581231.