Wevolution, SPGs, and Peer Gatherings
"We all want the same things: we want to be encouraged, we want to be supported..." ~ Deborah Murdoch, SPG Member & Wevolution Trustee.
I thought for my first blog of the year, I’d look back at one of my favourite yearly events to shoot for one of my favourite clients, and the wonderful SPG movement. What is an SPG I hear you ask? I’ll explain below alongside my photos of some of them.
What is an SPG?
An SPG is a small collective of people who encourage each other, have accountability and make ideas happen – together or individually. Some people pursue a side-project, some develop new skills, and others generate income with a new service or product. It’s not a one size fits all approach, no two SPGs are alike, but all work towards the same set of goals and principles - build relationships, learn & share skills, save money, and support each other to become more confident and self-reliant. It’s a people-powered approach with a focus on peer support and building meaningful, resourceful and accountable communities where everyone can be a change-maker and an entrepreneur.
I have had the privilege to see the powerful impact of the SPG model, having been shooting for Wevolution for many years now. Seeing people come together, support each other to transform their lives, and grow their confidence and self-reliance - it’s the closest thing to magic.
What is Wevolution?
Wevolution supports SPGs to flourish, creating an eco-system of SPGs and like-minded organisations across the UK, Europe, and beyond. Wevo invests in learning and training opportunities for individuals and groups, nurtures peer-to-peer connection while ceding power to those peers, and offers microfinance solutions to help get ideas off the ground. They also facilitate the adoption of the SPG model for other organisations, helping to adapt it to the needs of communities with training, resources, and support.
“There are a lot of organisations that do some phenomenal work with people but can only help individuals on part of their journey. Offering these individuals the SPG model can be the next step for them. We can help people through a critical point in their life, take ownership of something they are working on, and become self-reliant. It is important for funders in particular to see a sustainable, scalable business model where we can help people regain their independence and build their confidence. These people can learn new skills, improve their community, and we see positive, incremental change though the adoption of SPGs.”
What is a Peer Gathering?
Every year Wevo and dozens of SPGs get together as a big family to connect, celebrate successes, and prepare to take on any challenges on the horizon. It’s a great chance for SPG members, organisational partners, trustees, and everyone else connected to the movement to meet face-to-face, make new friends, and build relationships. It’s also an opportunity to hear from inspiring people, take part in practical and informative workshops, as well as have loads of fun with like-minded people - which will be especially powerful this time round, the first in-person Peer Gathering in two years!
I have always aspired to live by the maxim made famous by Alasdair Gray - Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation. After many years supporting the SPG movement, I have never felt this aspiration more perfectly manifested than when standing in amongst the hubbub and joy of these SPG Peer Gatherings.
SPGs in CTRL
For just over a year, I have been collaborating with a group of wonderful women on a project aiming to reclaim control of personal data.
It’s very easy to not pay much attention to the kind of personal data that is routinely collected, manipulated, and sold by the systems and corporations we interact with. But instead of this data being exploited by big data companies, why shouldn’t this data instead be owned, controlled, and used to benefit those who generate it - us!
That’s this SPG’s mission, to learn how the surveillance economy can be turned on its head, develop ideas to reclaim our data for the good of individuals and communities, and to play a part in the data-sovereignty revolution.
You can read some thoughts and reflections from the group here.
