Stories of Belonging, Leadership, and Global Connection
Cheltenham Summer Institute 2025
Last month, under the trees and among the glasshouses of the Butterfly Garden in Gloucestershire, over forty people from six countries gathered for the 2025 Cheltenham Summer Institute. Families, advocates, and community builders from the UK, Ireland, Greece, Canada, the Netherlands, and the U.S. came together not for PowerPoints or policy plans, but for tea, stories, and the radical act of belonging.
Chris, the founder of the Butterfly Garden, opened the gathering with a simple philosophy: “If you want to come, you come. If you want to leave, you leave. If you want to talk, I’ll listen.” That spirit—welcoming without conditions—set the tone for a week of deep learning, connection, and courageous questioning of the systems that surround us.
Highlights included a session on Solutions-Based Advocacy, where Rebecca Pauls traced PLAN’s journey from a kitchen table in Vancouver to national policy change. Through tools like the Advocacy Deck, participants explored how everyday acts of kindness and persistence can fuel both personal and systemic transformation.
A powerful conversation led by the team from WALK (Ireland) and Bob Rhodes (LivesThroughFriends) asked what happens when services stop creating programs and start trusting people. Through real-life stories of risk and resilience, they showed how ordinary lives are built not with forms or funding but through relationships, creativity, and courage.
Self-advocates Lucy and Kurtis from People First Wales shared how speaking up and contributing to their communities became forms of leadership. Their stories were followed by Gabriella, a mother who reminded us that while care systems often praise outcomes, they rarely ask caregivers, “And how are you?” Her words brought urgency and humanity to the conversation about support and sustainability.
Another highlight was a session with Joe Erpenbeck and Martin Simon, who explored how systems change begins with human connection. Drawing from decades of work in Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), they illustrated how reframing people through their gifts—not their deficits—transforms both lives and neighbourhoods. “Flourishing is mutual,” Joe reminded us.
The Institute also became the launch site for Neighbourhoods of Care, a strategy introduced by Simon Duffy and Kelly Hicks, calling for a radical reimagining of care rooted in citizenship, mutual aid, and community power. “Only caring can save us from ourselves,” Simon said—a message that deeply resonated.
As always, gatherings like this remind us that PLAN’s work is part of a global movement. Our model of lifelong advocacy and personal support networks continues to inspire and evolve through partnerships across Europe, North America, and beyond.
We return from Cheltenham not with a new model to scale, but with hearts full and purpose renewed—walking alongside others in the quiet, powerful work of building belonging.