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Voices Across The Divide Edinburgh

Voices Across the Divide – George Watson’s College Meets Castlebrae Community Campus

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In these two reflections, students from diverse backgrounds share their personal experiences during the Roots Futures Programme. Florence reflects on how stepping outside her comfort zone helped her connect with others and better understand the experiences of private school students, while Sofya highlights the power of open dialogue and learning from different perspectives. Both blogs reveal the transformative impact of the programme, showing how it encourages students to challenge assumptions, embrace new ideas, and grow through shared understanding and collaboration.

Florence, 14, State School Participant

Did you know that 75% of students in diverse learning environments report higher levels of engagement?


A number of studies in recent years have discussed the impact of diversity on student engagement. Research from organisations like the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and The National Educational Association (NEA) support the idea that diverse environments improve student outcomes, including engagement. Education is ever evolving, and schools are looking for ways to better prepare students for the real world. This is where the Roots Futures Programme comes in.

I’m a Nigerian 14-year-old high school student and I’m passionate about psychology and the brain’s influence on human interactions. I’ll describe myself as a creative learner and curious thinker with multicultural roots. I found Roots incredibly impactful, and I think sharing my thoughts will be valuable for others who might be interested in taking part in this programme.

At first, I was a bit nervous about joining the programme because I wasn’t sure if I was going to fit in or if I would be able to connect with the other school’s (George Watson’s private school) pupils. I wondered if I was even going to be contributing anything valuable to the group. This thought definitely changed after the first couple of meetings. I realised that everyone was welcoming, and I felt more comfortable the more I spent time with and got to know the group. I think it was when I shared my perspective on problems in society that I discovered my contributions during discussions were not only being heard, but also appreciated by the group. I offered new perspectives, collaboration, creative problem solving and active listening to the group. The diversity of our group was what made our discussions so dynamic, and I became more confident in my ability to contribute meaningfully.

Some of the biggest ways in which the programme impacted me was how it made me rethink a lot about myself and the community around me. I started to see that in many ways there was not much of a difference between my state school and George Watson’s private school. We both shared many similar problems and concerns for our schools and society. It also made me realise how important it is for young people to have a voice in shaping our society and how at the end of the day, social issues affect us all. Finally, I began to question things that I had previously taken for granted, such as the education system.

One of the most memorable moments for me was when we discussed problems in our community and ways to create changes. It was both inspiring and challenging. It made me realise that real change takes a lot of effort and commitment. But it made me hopeful, hearing everyone’s ideas made me excited to imagine what we can achieve together.

The programme has made me rethink what I want to be as a person. Talking about problems in society and creating solutions for those problems has made me want to become someone who actively contributes to positive change in my community, regardless of whether it is through leadership or simply being a good role model for others. 

I envision a society where everyone feels included and heard, regardless of their background or circumstances. A place were young people like us are empowered to take action and make a difference in our community. Taking part in Roots has further heightened that vision. For this vision to become a reality, I think society needs to prioritise inclusivity and create more opportunities for young people to be actively involved in decision making. We need better access to resources, mentorship, and platforms where diverse voices are not only heard, but valued.

The group and I also discussed the importance of education that emphasises on equality, mental health and supporting young leaders with tools and confidence to drive change. All of these would be key in making this vision possible. At the end of the day, we are the leaders of tomorrow.

Our society needs to place more attention on youth inclusive opportunities like Roots for us to engage in decision-making processes and address systemic inequalities that limit people’s access to resources, education, and opportunities. The programme really helped dismantle stereotypes and promote inclusivity. It made me appreciate the value of different educational models. It also prepared me and gave me a better perspective of the diverse world I’ll face beyond school.

I hope this information is enough to properly express how lovely the programme has been and how it affected me! …and if that doesn’t convince you, there’s always the free snacks and meals that are provided, maybe they can do the job.

Sofya, 14, Private School Particpant

My name is Sofya, I come from Edinburgh, and I go to a private school. I am very fortunate to be presented with that opportunity.


I grew up with parents who had their fair share of varied schooling, and a background from multiple countries. As a South-Asian American, born and raised in Scotland, I’ve always been very invested in my education, and have been given materials to help me with that. All of my friends until I was 14 had been from my school, and so before the programme I had no previous knowledge of our education system in different schools in the current day and age.

For me, the Roots Futures programme was an experience I’ll never forget. I had the opportunity to meet people my age, with different experiences and environments, and minds far brighter than my own. As worried as I first was, contrasting in my maroon school uniform, piling out of the minibus with my friends for our first in-person meet at our partner state school, I found some level of relief that this programme could lead me to friends that didn’t live in the more privileged corner of Edinburgh I never had to venture out of. I felt ashamed at my ignorance for the longest time, how I never understood how difficult it can be to succeed in education with the many setbacks that every kid I just met had to go through.

I can come off as cynical at times – often pointing out the flaws of our political and education systems – but the stark reality of what could appear to be the slight differences and falling pebbles that build up into a rockfall of mismanagement and kids worried about their futures is what hit me like a truck. The fact that our government seriously disregards the futures of the majority of children in this country in such a large way that they are much less likely to ‘academically succeed’ and be financially stable enough to do whatever they want to do in life is massive failure on their part, and in some sense on ours.

Roots didn’t just give us the ability to discuss and learn from each other about the highs and lows of our school systems, but the chance to do something about it. We spent time considering exactly what we want to change, education wise but also generally about our society. The culture of Scotland, the environment, mental health support, the economics and politics and all of the wonderful things that make up the fabric of our communities. We celebrated the positive elements but questioned the more negative aspects, and I took those thoughts away with me when the programme ended.

I’m honestly so glad I did Roots, as it gave me a new view over the world I live in, like when you don’t know how to read, but once you can it’s impossible not to see words everywhere. I want a world that’s fair for everyone, fair for my peers in a system that doesn’t support them as well as it could currently, but is so full of the potential that I saw in the students I met through Roots (and more that I never got to see). I want to be the person that gets far enough that they can come back and fight for the better, and it’s very heartwarming to have met people who agree with me.

I enjoyed the physical immersion of going back and forth between schools on our School Swap Days, the Vision day where we built slogans and dreams together as one, and most of all, the moments that I got to share of being kids trying for better but having fun, with a few people I can now call my friends.

At the end of each programme, participants gather to build their vision of a UK that serves all young people. Below is the vision from Florence and Sofya’s programme.

Voices Across the Divide – George Watson’s College Meets Castlebrae Community Campus
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That it’s all just a little bit of history repeating.

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I was born under Callaghan’s Labour government in 1977, into a world of brown Dralon, the Silver Jubilee and its accompaniment by the Sex Pistols. Jim Callaghan had a majority of just three seats in parliament. With no parliamentary power, mounting internal divisions in the Labour Party and widespread industrial action all over the country, he was doomed to lose a vote of confidence in 1979. Out went Labour for 18 years and Thatcher became PM.

Thatcher rode high, promising fast and easily understood policies to solve the mess the country was in, through a move back to traditional British values and isolationist nationalism, using Saatchi & Saatchi to convey it all in readily digestible ads. Things had become increasingly chaotic and national decline was starkly apparent. Combined with a disunited opposition, she had a perfect springboard into a more authoritarian style of government. We needed old-fashioned values and a return to individual liberties. Forget community, this was more about individual aspiration.

Over the past few thousand years, wise people have shared various ideas that there are traditional ‘cycles’ that we will see played out over and over again in society and politics; Plato distinguishes five forms of government that we see come and go through these cycles: aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny. (Obviously, I had to look up what a timocracy was). In our lifetimes we will see almost a whole cycle. The long global cycle, according to Dr. Dan Cox, is a period lasting approximately 70 to 100 years. At the end of that period, “the title of most powerful nation in the world switches hands.”

If we look at WW2 as the beginning of a cycle, we could be hot on the heels of tyranny. The rise of right-wing populism again, as we can see all over the globe and very apparently across Europe, was not unpredictable. When people see an unending decline, we often look for leaders who offer quick, understandable solutions, whatever the trade-off. What we don’t always fully comprehend is the truth behind the problems. Underfunding of services, decrepit systems not fit for purpose and mismanagement of taxpayers’ money are not as delicious front-page fodder as a boat full of desperate people trying to cross the channel. Those people, we are led to believe, will steal our jobs and our homes whilst simultaneously being on benefits and taking over our seafront hotels. For populists who want power, a very dull election with little choice among the manifestos on offer is a perfect playground.

Across the world, we witness another rise of the right and the age-old nationalist play for the population of each place to retain, regain or renew their national identity. Blame a group of people – immigrant or Jewish people, perhaps, alongside simple, fast solutions to complex issues that have been millennia and often a colonial past in the making. The myth often is that there is a pure, ethnic, national identity in a place that is being acutely watered down. A long time ago, I had a conversation with a friend’s Italian Grandfather and, later in life, with my friend Gabriel in Spain, about Mussolini and Franco. Their opening conversation was the same, they saw nothing but poverty as they grew up, before these people came to power and, subsequently, they were amazed by the transformation, hospitals, schools and good roads being rapidly built almost overnight. They also both lost close family members to what then became an authoritarian, fascist regime.

Our unconscious bias needs a collective rattle to prevent us from such easy manipulation, followed by regular rattles, individually. We’ve all got it, a touch of the unconscious biases, it’s an intrinsic part of how our brain tries to efficiently process the stuff we see and experience. Be mindful, think about what you read and why you want to believe it – if a particular group is targeted, check and check again what the motive might be. We were all fairly happy to help those fleeing Ukraine, people who looked like white Westerners and dressed like us, arriving on planes and trains – easy to swallow without much thought and without unconscious bias beacons making much noise. Would we have not helped them, or threatened to sink/shoot them if they had come by small boat or on the back of a lorry? When the people are brown and otherwise visibly different to the mythical ‘ethnic Englishman’, some British people are perhaps not so sure, not so trusting, not so quick to offer our spare rooms. Could it be the low hum of anti-Muslim, racist and baseless rhetoric that we have heard, read and watched every day for decades that has found a way into our somewhat collective unconscious? That they are ‘other’, not like ‘us’, and God forbid I bring it up, vaguely connected to our colonial past. Probably. Whoops-a-daisy, Brenda, I think I might be an unconscious racist.

Designing the future of a place does not just have to be a rearranging of what has come before – it can be new and different to reflect a new and different society. Different is not always something to fear and the past was certainly not always glorious. We are on a small island in Europe without an empire, what could that look and feel like if we dared to dream? We could be the ‘envy of the world’ for our world-beating health system, radical education system, our rich community capital or all-encompassing social support. Much is made of some male candidates being ‘men of the people’, or like ‘a bloke down the pub’ – I really don’t want Sid from the White Hart as PM, much as he has some interesting takes on things. Let’s vote for someone you’d trust to feed your cat over the weekend, and perhaps someone who is not into supporting genocide and upholds basic human rights. Have a think about what your decision means for all of us, ignore the urge to not talk politics, just do it well – be kind, remain connected and be compassionate when you don’t share someone else’s opinions. Nobody had their mind changed through a shout-off.

It’s not an easy election to vote in, but it could be one of our most important for 70 years. A more connected, curious and compassionate society is possible.

Stay in touch with Roots!
Voices Across The Divide Manchester

Voices Across the Divide – Cheadle Hulme School Meets St Peter’s RC High School

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These two reflections capture the unique experiences of young people from different educational backgrounds as they participated in the Roots Futures Programme. Each student brought their own expectations, faced new environments, and ultimately gained fresh perspectives on themselves and the world around them. Toby, from a Cheadle Hulme private school, shares how the programme challenged stereotypes and opened up meaningful dialogue, while Jorja, from St Peter’s RC High state school, reflects on how it helped her grow in confidence and embrace new opportunities. Both students’ journeys highlight the power of cultural exchange in shaping young minds.

Jorga, 13, State School Participant

Before I had joined Roots I was a quiet person and very closed off to new ideas as I was worried about others and how they would see me as a human being. 

Through the programme however, I have become more open to a wide variety of opportunities that have helped me express my viewpoints on and within society. I realised that everyone is human with emotions and stories that others don’t have. I saw that everyone is unique in their own way based on their lifestyle and upbringing. 

Now I am more available to new possibilities in my life and I have been shaped into a more understanding and considerate person regardless. The programme had also inspired me to express my opinion to contribute to any changes that need to be done to break stereotypes and shape lives so everyone has an equal chance to be the best they can be. My view on the world has changed as stereotypes that I, and many other people had too, were broken. I know that everything I have learned will shape me into a better person in the world and even if I may not make a BIG change, whatever I do will still be recognised in a positive way. 

The programme has helped me build my belief in myself to continue to strive at every chance I get. 

Toby, 13, Private School Particpant

Coming into the programme, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. 

The only thing I knew was that I had the opportunity to share my opinion on how many people think students that attend private schools live. During our first meeting as a group (both schools), a lot of the time was spent getting to know everyone and talking about our initial ideas. By the time people started finding their feet and opening up, I couldn’t wait to say how I felt about the questions that were asked of us. There were many parts in the online meetings where I felt that the idea that someone else came in with was either inaccurate or stereotypical. But it was so great to see how open and honest everyone on the programme was and that everyone was open to giving constructive ideas rather than definitive answers.

On the first School Swap day (where students from my private school visited the state school that we were paired with), I was more excited than nervous, mainly because I knew what State primary schools were like but I had never been to a State Secondary School… And it was indeed very different from what I expected; it was a lot busier but people were much less separated than in our school. At lunch all year groups were able to mix. During lessons, the tables also had more pupils sat together and talking and collaboration were encouraged when working through questions.

When the other students came to Cheadle, they seemed a lot less alienated than how we felt and were a lot less interesting to the students at Cheadle. The State School young people were very questioning and seemed impressed by the facilities we had available at our Private School. They had actually an almost identical reaction to mine when I first came to the school.

Overall, the programme was a really special and a fun experience. It opened my eyes up to a lot of new views and perspectives and I feel that by being on the programme, I was able to facilitate others to do the same aswell.

At the end of each programme, participants gather to build their vision of a UK that serves all young people. Below is the vision from Jorga and Toby’s programme.

Voices Across the Divide – Cheadle Hulme School Meets St Peter’s RC High School
new beginnings

New beginnings  

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Like many international students, I chose to move to the UK because it offered the best option available to pursue graduate studies. For years, I had had the goal of completing a Masters degree and, in the North East I found an opportunity to do so. I moved to the UK in 2021, in the midst of the pandemic, with just two suitcases, a bundle of nerves and excitement. Now, two years later I am so happy I made that decision. 

Since the day I arrived everything has been a lesson. As a native Spanish speaker adjusting to a new language, adapting to new accents, new slang, basically re-learning the English language (so different from the American version I had learned throughout the years) has been a challenge. Getting to try different foods, learning about different cultures, figuring out a new currency,  a new healthcare system, a new educational system, to seemingly trivial things like taking the bus and learning how to pronounce the names of some of the stops. I can only say, it has been an adventure! I moved from tropical Puerto Rico, where it is summer all year long. Even after two years here the cold still takes me by surprise each time. If I could have brought anything in my suitcase, it would have been the sun and the warm weather.

When I moved, I was surprised at how open and friendly people were. I was stunned at how easily they opened their homes to me and the hospitality of those around me. In the years I have been here I have never passed a Christmas Day by myself.  Having lived in other places I knew that was not always the case and it was another of the reasons why it felt so special to be here. I have been very lucky. I know that is not the case for everyone that goes through the experience that is immigration. I was also surprised by the amount of different people from all corners of the world that coexisted in the same spaces.  You could walk through one street and hear more than 10 different languages around you in the time it takes you to get from point A to point B. Coming from a country that is not as diverse as the UK it was shocking and a pleasant surprise. An experience like that wouldn’t happen there. Living surrounded by so many cultures has made me appreciate my own culture even more. I love being able to meet new people from all over and learning about their stories, how they also ended up here, their culture and more. Never had I had so many different meaningful conversations as I have had here with people I have met in the most unexpected of  places. 

I believe if any positive changes are going to be made in our society it will be through conversation and mutual understanding. Celine from the movie ‘Before Sunrise’ said it best “If there’s any kind of magic in this world it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing something.” I believe that, and because of that I decided to join Roots. The nature of the work of the Roots Programme, creating spaces for dialogue and mutual understanding, is revolutionary in its nature. Everyday we are bombarded with divisive messages coming from all over. Groups are constantly being formed and lines are being drawn as to say you belong and they do not. Because of this rhetoric we forget how much we all have in common and what unites us. I believe a revolution of change will happen from the ground up. Where everyday people will choose to choose empathy and compassion and this can only be started through conversations. I am so happy to be a part of The Roots programme and I am excited about the work that will be achieved.  

Crowd with a large tree above them. A sign held up reads 'Love for all, Hatred for none'

Empathy, migration and humanity

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Photo credit: Emma Turner

So many of us feel the hardness, loneliness and disconnection around the places we have lived all our lives. It’s impossible to imagine migrating to a place where you add into that a lack of familiarity with not just the place, but the language, foods, weather, customs and the very landscape itself. I had a very privileged glimpse when my son was a tiny baby and very ill overseas and I had to make sense of the medical system. It seemed impossible to navigate and I was faced by person after person who could not understand exactly what it was I was unable to comprehend or confused by, being so familiar with it themselves. The process to get seen by someone was unfathomable to me. All was well in the end for us though, I never once imagined I would be turned away once I had found my way and this was just a fleeting glimpse, not a whole new life with a raft of oncoming, interconnecting alien experiences before me.

Lots of us have friends, colleagues or people in our day-to-day lives, around the shops, services and spaces we regularly inhabit, that have migrated to the UK who have encountered the differences, hurdles, assumptions and challenges of living outside of the experience they were born into somewhere else. Have you ever asked them about their unique observations of the UK, the things they encountered that seemed entirely crazy to start with? Some of us seldom cross paths with anyone who has experience of migrating across the world to be here. What are your assumptions around those that choose a life here over the one they encountered as they entered the world?

We know that various players in the media want us to believe certain, simplified and distorted pictures about those that migrate here, to benefit whatever end/policy/camp they are seeking to support. We also know that migrating people come here for many reasons; study, marriage, a perceived better life for themselves and their families, seasonal work, asylum and refuge, and many more complicated reasons beyond. When we choose to migrate to Australia, France, Spain or any of the other usual destinations for migrating Brits, would we expect to be caricatured and labelled too? I’m certain we are and yet we know in our hearts that the reasons behind any movement, especially with family in tow, are complex and unique to each situation and that, as individuals, we all hold different values and cannot possibly be lumped together.

Part of my family are believed to have moved from Eastern Europe and settled around Spitalfields/Whitechapel in the 1880’s, apparently along with 90% of all the Jewish people migrating here, until the first world war. Charitable Societies to support the huge influx of working-class Jewish people fleeing a hostile Europe at that time gave new arrivals the tools to survive, such as signposting to work, soup kitchens, cheap lodgings and made a huge number of small interest-free loans available that enabled many to start their own businesses. So, a collection of people who showed kindness to strangers helped to ensure I appeared here far later in 1977. Thank you 19th C East End Societies.

According to government data, this year has seen the greatest number of people arriving via small boats than ever before, a stat reported widely and yet ‘in 2021, there were around 9 asylum applications for every 10,000 people living in the UK. Across the EU27 there were 14 asylum applications for every 10,000 people. The UK was therefore below the average among EU countries for asylum applications per head of population, ranking 16th among EU27 countries plus the UK on this measure.’ The hyper-visibility of boats coming across the channel makes the front page, not the balanced truth. We’ve seen plenty of reports in the media labelling people ‘illegal migrants’ or just ‘migrants’, using dehumanising language to further set us apart, and we must learn to think mindfully and critically about the information we are being fed. This year, Red Cross researchers found that 74 per cent of the UK public has sympathy towards refugees and asylum seekers – up from 59 per cent in December 2022, so perhaps the divide and conquer rhetoric is not succeeding.

Join us in our new six-week exchanges between people who have migrated to the UK and those whose families have lived here for generations. If you believe a more connected, curious and compassionate society is possible, then let’s examine and reimagine the kind of welcome we offer people. Roots curate up to an hour a week of offline activities between you and a partner that we pick for you for three weeks, followed by three guided conversations for the final three weeks. These offer you an opportunity to reflect on your life and the lives of others, to ask questions, share ideas and to look at our society through another lens. Noticing our similarities always brings great joy and appreciating our differences and talking about them offers us rich opportunities to learn, develop and create a society that works for all of us.

The programme is fully funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, individual participants do not need to pay. We start again in October, please register your interest here.

 

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The Roots Exchange: Different Lives

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Abiola and I, here at The Roots Programme, are getting ready to start another round of our gently held exchanges from March. Our Roots Exchanges are over around 6 weeks and involve us pairing up people from different places with different lives around the UK to ‘see how the other half live’. Some of the time it might feel like having a pen pal, and at others it feels like taking part in a Human Library, it involves sharing and reading and listening to another perspective.  We believe a more connected, curious and compassionate society is possible, and our exchange offers ‘unlikely’ connections with people from across our society, that you otherwise might never stumble across, with a life experience different to your own to be curious about.

It can be difficult to step outside our social bubbles, we tend to surround ourselves with people who share similar beliefs, values, and experiences as us. This is often referred to as ‘homophily’, the tendency to associate with people who are similar to us. Our social bubbles can be formed by a variety of factors, including our geographic location, our education background, our occupation, our socioeconomic status, and our interests and hobbies. We may also be influenced by the media we consume and the online communities we participate in.

Stepping outside our bubble is an opportunity for personal growth and learning. It can help us to develop empathy and understanding for people who are different from us and to broaden our perspectives. It can also be a way to build relationships and connections with people who we may not have otherwise encountered. Roots ensure people come together as equals, we give you the common goal of connecting compassionately with your partner and allow you space to cooperate, all whilst held gently and supportively together by the Roots team.

Some people on the exchange find themselves sharing and communicating with someone entirely different to themselves, and others, despite our best attempts to pair across a range of differences, find a multitude of similarities with their partner in the end. Some people don’t reach the end, and that’s ok too. Any which way, to dare to try is the exercise we support – to take a step outside of the safety of your social bubble and to exchange our unique perspectives and life experiences with others is what we all need to do more of to dispel our fear of ‘other’ and to build a more connected and compassionate culture.

We don’t tend to give too much detail up front around our activities across the six weeks usually, to keep things fresh and interesting, but we’ve felt moods change. The social world and worlds of work that we must step back out into don’t feel quite as comfortable now, perhaps, as they once did, and so we have tweaked the exchange activities and made them more approachable and thought-provoking, we hope, with the psychological safety of knowing that the activities are very carefully thought out and won’t create tension between you. 

In week one we pair you and you learn only your partner’s name and you may hear a recording of their voice, but you won’t communicate directly for another few weeks. Week one should feel like a very, very gentle introduction. Again, in weeks two and three, you will share written or transcribed information about your tastes, your daily routine and your passions and interests, with Roots doing the actual exchanging of materials between partners, as intermediaries.

From week four partners begin to communicate directly, without Roots as intermediary, but to ease you in, we initially set a task to discuss on a phone call or an online call. After that, the final two weeks are conversations around themes that Roots believe we do not discuss often enough, our senses of belonging and of difference. The Exchange does not pitch people against one another, we want to reduce debate and argumentative conversation as our first port of call – we encourage and support compassionate curiosity and dialogue, that is what this space is for, to practise those things mindfully and with intent to go away and plant seeds within your own worlds for the same. As I said before, we believe that a more connected, curious and compassionate society is possible.

Join us on an exchange

 

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What are the complexities in your identity?

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 I grew up living in a caravan. ALSO, my caravan was parked in the car-park of my international private school, we lived there for a while. I was Jewish. ALSO, we lived in the Middle East and all of my friends were Muslim.

My grandma was in the Hitler Youth as a teenager and till her passing held antisemitic views. ALSO, she loved her Jewish grand-children dearly.

We moved onto an East London council estate, 8 of us squeezed into a tiny 2 bed flat. ALSO, at the same time, I went to a private boarding school and one of my best friends was the granddaughter of a Lady.

A lot of my holidays were spent working underage in a chippy to help pay for my school uniform. ALSO, I would find a weekend here or there to escape on holiday to my friends’ houses, to enjoy their pools, or even once, to their Monaco summer house to mix with the rich and famous on their super yachts.

Someone very close to me claimed to be a universalist (accepting of all religions and cultures). They married one Filipino lady and one German lady and are the most well-traveled person I know. ALSO they claimed to vote for the BNP.

They claimed to be a healer, and even the Messiah at one point. ALSO, this same person abused our family, daily.

Whilst I was away at boarding school, my sisters ran away from home, failed their exams, became homeless; one fell pregnant as a teenager and both fell into abusive relationships. ALSO, they are the most inspiring and powerful women I know.

What has this taught me? Why does the ROOTS programme matter?

People don’t always fit into simple categories. Social identity theory shows us that naturally humans form ‘in-groups’ and ‘out-groups’; people we identify with ourselves are our ‘in-group’ and those who we perceive to be different are in the ‘out-group’. The Roots Programme offers an opportunity to become aware of these categories and start to consciously and actively re-shape them. 

As our world changes more rapidly as a consequence of climate change, war and economic migration, a need for people to re-shape their in-groups is becoming more urgent. Without this, we risk increased polarisation, division and massive inequality, not only between communities, but also within ourselves. We are pulled between the different parts of our complex identities (like my own) that don’t fit the traditional categories that we may have been used to.

Not only is this important for our future, but also for the present. My own experiences highlighted to me that young people from the different parts of my life had no real idea of what the other was really like or the challenges that the other faced. I became incredibly aware of the massive division between young people from state and private schools , the misconceptions that they have about each other, and the in-group/out-group dynamics that are strongly at play.

When I started dating a boy from a state school, private school peers laughed and said ‘Why are you wasting time with a peasant’. Before you think this no longer happens, I have been in 2 conversations in the last 2 months where this and worse language was used. 

On the other side, when I shifted from state to private, I lost all of my state friends as they perceived that I left because I thought I was better than them. When I dated people from state schools, they would be congratulated by their state school peers for dating a private school girl and were asked how big my house was. The actual reality was, I lived in a smaller and poorer house than they did. 

For a person of colour, things were much worse. With a thick Birmingham accent, Jamaican heritage, and a bubbly vibrant personality, my best friend stood no chance of ever really fitting into private school categories. She was branded the 4 B’s (Big, Black, Birmingham, Bitch). To this day, the trauma of what she experienced still affects her. 

Back then, with such limited categories and so desperately wanting to fit in, I felt shame about my sisters and would not let them visit me at my private school and was fearful of rejection by peers. Now, I have a greater critical understanding of social identity and comprehend the restrictiveness of in-groups and out-group categories. For example, I see my sisters in a completely new light, for the incredibly strong and powerful women that they are. 

If I could wish one thing for myself, it would have been for my school community to offer me, and other chameleons like me who did not fit into one accepted, standardised mould, opportunities to embrace our complex identities and expand our in-groups to include all the different communities and groups that we were a part of. For all the people in all of my different worlds, I would wish for them to be more connected, curious and compassionate about each other. For them to have critical insight into each other’s lives and a better understanding of how some of our current systems and beliefs about one another can perpetuate division and inequity within our society. 

This would have made my journey to acceptance of myself a heck of a lot less turbulent, and the journey of my peers into the incredibly diverse real world, a lot less uncomfortable and much more inclusive. If only given the chance, they could have found unexpected connections and allies in those who appear to be an ‘other’, reconstructing their ‘in-group’. 

This is the opportunity Roots offers. To step into someone else’s life, to connect and find allies in seemingly unlikely places and ultimately re-form our in-groups. This is how we can all find wider belonging in the UK and in the world. This is how we can walk into unfamiliar spaces without fear, trusting that we can find connection and belonging there.

Many of us have complex identities and have lived across various divides  –  What are yours and how have you bridged them?

If you have a story to share for our blog, please contact Roots on info@rootsprogramme.org



Visions of the UK (from people like us)

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Visions of the UK (from people like us)

I’ve had a low key Summer with my son, we’ve watched the news less, done less than perhaps we usually do and certainly spent less than in previous Summer Holidays. I’m a single parent, working part-time for Roots and adding in days on other projects, flexibly, around my child. Less ‘extra’ work is possible during the Summer because I have Arlo at home, but this limit on Summer earnings has never phased me previously.

The cost of living crisis has snuck up on us quickly; being creatures of habit, our weekly shopping bill has climbed steadily, despite containing the same things week in/week out. My lackadaisical attitude towards listening to or acting upon anything Martin Lewis says has cranked up ten notches, I now read everything he publishes as soon as it drops into my inbox. I’m noticing the rapid change and our lives are radically different to the one we lived only a year ago – there are now few extras incoming, no TV subscriptions and no impulsive buys or holiday plans. I’d be tucking money away in a savings account if there was any left over at the end of the month, too.

The reassuring thing for us, now that school is back in, is that I have a bit of extra capacity to work more hours and bridge the financial gap a bit, but what about my neighbour eight doors down, who works as a carer, undoubtedly on a low and unwavering wage and already doing all the hours god sends? The one chink of light, in what feels like a long, communal slide into the abyss, is possibly a hangover from the new kinds of relationships we all built here during Lockdown, that we are able to talk to each other about what’s happening to us now, in a candid way that we didn’t before.

I was at another neighbour’s house this week, doing her highlights at the kitchen table as a favour, and her husband brought up the energy crisis, the new PM and immigration – all in one short, DIY hair bleaching session. Despite my love of a good political ranting session, these neighbours have never wanted to discuss anything like this before and always felt awkward when I brought anything up. They carried on, talking about how they felt embarrassed by the last PM we had representing us on the world stage and that they knew nothing at all about the new one – how distant they generally felt from our leaders, and how unlike ‘us’ they are.

We talked about immigration, ‘everyone still wants to come here, though.’ I felt it was okay for once to wonder out loud that ‘if that were true, then, why are there so many driving, service, farm and labouring jobs going begging at the moment?’ – a million, apparently. ‘Could it be that our migrant workforce might be going back to their countries of origin in their droves?’

It was a calm and thoughtful conversation, no debate, heavy on wondering and light on facts, just learning about each other’s attitudes very gently, drinking coffee, swatting at a persistent wasp and doing quite a good amateur job on Eileen’s highlights. It was, however, the start of a conversation we’d never had before – what do we see when we look around and what do we want our UK to look and feel like?

Over the next 18 months, The Roots Programme will be holding online conversations with ordinary people to discuss our visions of the UK we want to live in. We are also holding smaller, community-based online conversations in the same way, in places where wealth and deprivation may sit side by side.

Attend our UK-wide, online Visions conversations, come along and dare to dream, choose to listen and connect with others who live here in the UK, compassionately.

Find tickets here for our online event on the 28th of September.