The Network of Wellbeing connects people, supports projects and inspires action for the wellbeing of people and the planet. You, our readers, followers and contributors, are very important to us. That’s why, in last November, we asked you what you’d like from us in 2024. Here, NOW’s Director, Roger Higman reports and reflects on what you said.
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Thank you! People are the lifeblood of any organisation and that’s doubly true for us, as, you, our readers, followers and contributors, are our Network. That’s why we’re so grateful to those you who took the time to respond to our Survey.
We promoted the survey through our newsletter and social media and to the users of the Share Shed, our travelling library of things, and our retreat centre, Eden Rise. We wanted to know how you currently engage with us, what you want from us in 2024 and which aspects of wellbeing most interest you.
In the event, most of you who responded did so as a result of reading about the survey in newsletter and on social media. Only a few users of the Share Shed responded and no one did so as a result of using Eden Rise. But what did you say?
First, we asked what we should do in 2024? There were many different responses to this (see below) but there was a clear preference. 60 per cent, of those who responded, want us to offer online events. Our readers are scattered all over country and many said they did not have the time or could not afford to travel to meetings in person. That being said, several people said they crave “physical connection”, are “done with online stuff” and “appreciate face to face meeting”. Almost half of you, expressed an interest in meeting in person. Surprisingly, relatively few of you seem that keen to connect via social media.
Meanwhile, there is also a demand for podcasts and for videos, and half of respondents want us to continue to offer projects, such as the Share Shed.
Then, we asked which aspects of wellbeing inspire you the most. Here the response was very broad, with half of you ticking ‘all of the above’ (see below). Nature perenially tops the list of our readers’ and followers’ favourite topics, but happiness, health and kindness all scored highly and there is a strong interest in creativity and sustainability. Wellbeing projects, people in wellbeing and economics score lower but still interest many. It’s clear that our readers and followers take a broad view of wellbeing and are interested in many different aspects of it.
Last year, we spent some time looking at the opportunities we offer our readers and followers both to follow us and to connect with each other. We noted that although we offer many ways to follow us (X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and through our website and e-newsletter), we don’t offer that many for people to connect with us and each other. We have a very popular Facebook group, Building Wellbeing Together and hold online meetings, such as our Wellbeing for Changemakers’ Programme, but that’s it.
So, we’re exploring setting up an Ambassador scheme, though which people would get more opportunities to connect with us and each other and the opportunity to promote our cause. We asked whether our readers and followers would be interested in this and encouragingly, more than 90 per cent said they might or definitely would be. This is something we’ll explore further.
Finally, we asked what else you wanted to say.“Keep up the good work” was the typical response and we were gratified that many of you wrote kind words to say how much our offerings meant to you.
And what does all this mean for our work in 2024?
It means we will be offering further online meetings over the next few months – and we’ll try and feature more podcasts and videos in our newsletter. Meanwhile, we will further explore setting up the Ambassador scheme we asked about. And, if resources allow, we will be offering some opportunities to connect in person.
Thank you, again, to every one of you who responded. If you didn’t but would like to add your thoughts, you can do so here.