A Small, Powerful Groups Spotlight
The Transformative Power of Community
"From a place of self-doubt and insecurity, I've emerged as a confident, independent individual capable of achieving anything."
Welcome to our blog series shining a spotlight on the impact of small, powerful groups within our community. Our groups are driven by shared goals and support and they’re powerful small engines of positive change. But don’t take it from us! Today, we’re chatting with group member, Karen Stevens, about the power of savings, collective support and collaboration.
Q: Karen, can you share how you first got involved in the small, powerful group community?
Yeah, it was about eight years ago. I had gone through some counselling and other courses all about self esteem and self worth and things. But at the end of it, you're “fixed”. And then that's it, you’re just dumped and abandoned. But one of the ladies that worked in the counselling service had mentioned WEvolution and put us all in contact with Eleanor. She bounced into my life and has stayed there bouncing ever since.
Q: What were your initial impressions?
Initially, I was skeptical, wondering if it was too good to be true. However, the overwhelming support and positivity I encountered, especially in setting up our group, quickly erased any doubts. It felt empowering to be part of something so impactful.
it was also a case of this sounds too good to be true.
Q: Could you describe the purpose your group served when you first started?
We were all crafters, but none of us had ever sold anything. And we all started off with taking turns and sharing our learning. And so those that couldn't were taught to sew and those that couldn't knit were taught to knit, etc. We all shared our skills with each other. And then we decided that we were going to go for Christmas craft fair. And this was like in June or something like that. And so we started making and we actually that was the first time we took out a small loan. And I think it was £150 I think and we took out this loan and we went fabric shopping as a group and it was absolutely brilliant. We formed a production line continuously up until this craft fair and we sold virtually everything. I mean, oh my god, what a boost. It was just unreal. And from then, instead of doing everything together, we all did our own things, but then had everything together on a stall.
Q: How did those first sales impact you?
It was unreal. We'd all come from a domestic abuse background and we'd all been told how useless we were and how worthless we were. And then to suddenly to be producing something ourselves, that we'd designed that we'd come up with the idea for, that we'd made and then we'd sold and other people wanted to buy, it was immense. It was such a huge, huge boost, it validated us, you know, it made us feel as though we're not useless, and that we were worthwhile, and that we could actually do this. It probably boosted our group to like, you know, 10 years forward kind of thing - far quicker than any counselling or any other kind of support thing that is provided out there. And although we had the one thing in common, we were all from different socio economic backgrounds and different ages and different stages in our lives. It was was a real coming together of minds, rather than anything else; all the other things just didn't matter. And we were all equal, because we all had different skills, and we shared them regularly. And we all taught each other and we all did everything together. It was it was a huge equalizer.
Q: What were some challenges your group faced, and how did you navigate them?
One notable challenge was managing diverse personalities within the group. One of the big things about stopping or helping to alleviate a lot of challenging is the rotating of roles. Because everybody gets a chance to be the boss, you know, everyone gets a chance to be the chairman of the meetings and of the group here the go to person. Additionally, we established a "safe word" to redirect conversations that made members uncomfortable, creating a respectful environment where everyone felt safe. It’s also important to mention that groups change because “we” change. You have to grow as a group at the same time as you're growing as a person. And people grow at different rates. And people's people's ideology grows at different rates. And unfortunately, some people get left behind, or some people go forging on ahead. The group dynamic does change, and sometimes it doesn't survive. And then the group has an ending, it breaks up and maybe forms in a different way - new members go off and form new groups.
Q: How did your group utilise the concept of savings and loans, and what impact did it have?
Having gone to India and seen firsthand how life changing it is to do as a group, it’s now part of me - it's something that's very important to me. It's something that I don't have an awful lot of that I am giving into the group. So I'm paying a part of myself into the group. And it makes you more committed, it makes you trust people sooner. Because you are investing in your group, you are personally out of your own pocket, investing in yourself. And so you put more into the group, because you've put that financial backing in. And the more you put in, the more you get out. And not necessarily financially, but yeah, you do. Savings get used for all sorts of different things, you know, like for buying materials or whatever. And also small people within our group can take out a loan. One member of my current group has a stall in the Barras Market, and somebody else was closing. She wanted to buy their products as they aligned well with products that she was making and selling on her store. She needed £100 there and then so we were able to loan her this with the offer to pay it back over 10 months with £10 interest. But within two months, she paid the whole lot back plus the interest because she sold so much.
Q: Reflecting on your personal growth, how has being part of this community impacted you?
Oh, it's changed my life. Who I was eight years ago is not the same person that I am now. I was downtrodden, useless, worthless, no self-esteem wasn't capable of anything. How on earth I had five children and kept them alive, God only knows. And then, to now to eight years later, I am a strong, independent woman that is achievable, capable of absolutely anything that I put my mind to. And I've proven it. I am in control of my life, and where I go, and what I do, and who I speak to; I can go anywhere and do anything. And the comparison is night and day. But also with my kids, my family - they've grown so much with me being connected to WEvolution. Not only do they see me, in a very, very different way to how I was, but they see me as a role model now; I'm not just a mum. I am capable of doing things and I'm a person that they turn to all the time. Three out of three of my five children now don't live at home but they're constantly back here again, or on the phone or anything, you know. They tell me everything that's going on in their lives. And, and that's just been so important. And although I couldn't say yeah, I didn't care prior, I had too much else going on in my head to be able to be a proper mum. Whereas now even though I've got so much more going on in my life, I'm so much more of a mum than I ever was before. I champion my kids on a daily basis and remind them that no matter what anybody says that they are capable of doing absolutely everything that they put their mind to. And it's WEvolution and being part of a group and part of the wider movement that has got me to the place that I am now.
Stay tuned for more inspiring stories highlighting the impact of community in our series.
And to hear the full recorded interview with Karen, tune in to our new podcast, “Together” right over here.
