Getting a seat at the table in Scotland

Recently, Scottish First Minister John Swinney made a commitment to tackle the rising issue of polarisation in communities across Scotland.

As part of this, a summit was held in late April, to hear directly from civic and faith leaders about what they are seeing 'on the ground'. Due to our work in Glasgow working to tackle hate and division, our Community Connector in Glasgow, Adeel, was one of those invited to attend.

Some really important discussions were had, about how grassroots organisations can come forward and be part of the solution. We look forward to working more closely with the Scottish Government and other partners over the coming months.

Showcasing our work in Luton 

Since we expanded our Community Connector work into Luton, we've been delighted with the impact we're already having on communities living there, helping to tackle division and build peace.

Featuring our Community Connector Leela and our founder Hadiya, watch the video linked here, showcasing our work.

The short film also features our collaborative partners at EqualityPCN and Luton Council, as we try to build a network of delivery across public and voluntary sector partners.

To get in touch about our work in Luton, email leela@groundswell.world.

Misogyny sweeping our schools, says poll 

Figures released last month have shown that almost three in five teachers believe that social media influencers like Andrew Tate are having a negative impact on young people's behaviour in the classroom.

The NASUWT poll has confirmed what we've known for some time - that there's an epidemic sweeping our schools of young people looking to emulate the misogynistic, macho narrative of influencers like Tate.

Check out our piece filmed with the BBC last year showcasing some of the work we are doing to tackle just this issue here. And get in touch with us about running similar sessions via this page of our website.

Kabaddi World Cup 'watched by millions'

For the last few years, our Community Connector in Glasgow, Adeel, has been using sport - and particularly the ancient sport of Kabaddi - to draw together and unite diverse communities in the city.

His commitment to the sport was on display for all to see at the Kabaddi World Cup, which took place in late March in the West Midlands - the first time it's been held outside Asia.

Groundswell was proud to be a sponsor of the Scottish side that competed in the men's event, and which ended up third out of nine teams (India ultimately triumphed in the men's and women's contests).

The BBC showed many matches in the tournament on its iPlayer app, and it has been estimated that millions of people around the world streamed the matches across the week of events.

Proud to help spread change at Marmalade

Our founder Hadiya was one of the speakers invited to participate in the Skoll World Forum's Marmalade Festival.

The festival is a regular event held to inspire social impact and change, and Hadiya joined more than 60 thinkers and activists helping to inspire change across the globe.

The unique event - which has now been running for 15 years - takes place at the Old Fire Station in Oxford every year.

Find out more and watch a reel of highlights from this year's festival here.

Social prescribing network gives Easter food boost

Groundswell has been running a social prescribing initiative from a primary care network based in Hendon, north London, for a few years now - and gave an Easter food boost to its users this year.

We highlighted on our Instagram reel this lovely food market organised just ahead of the Easter holiday break for those in need of a little extra support in the area. Check it out here.

This is just part of our social prescribing offer that we are hoping to expand to other services and other locations over the coming months. Read more about what we can provide here.

Maeve launches her first book on Incel culture

Our long-time collaborator Maeve Park has launched her first book based on her extensive research background on incel (involuntary celibate) culture.

The book, entitled 'Blackpilled: Masculinity, Media and Incels' takes a deep dive into the culture that has taken on greater social significance recently, when linked with a number of high profile killings and crimes. But as Maeve describes in her book, there's much more to it - including gaining a greater understanding of the impacts that social media and society in general is having on driving this way of thinking for some young men.

The book launched at the end of March, and you can purchase a copy of it here.

Parents for Change graduate in Leicester

Our latest cohort of participants on the Parents for Change course have just graduated from their course in Leicester.

The session is the latest in our series of courses aimed at tackling the impact of extreme misogynistic and radical influencers online, helping parents identify the warning signs and put in place strategies to support their children through the challenging societal influences they are subject to every day.

To keep up to date with our latest sessions, check our social media or check out our training pages.

It's nearly time for SXSW London

It's now just a month until our founder Hadiya Masieh takes to the stage at the globally renowned SXSW festival, heading to London for the first time this summer.

The festival is 'the' place to be for people who are at the forefront of tech and creativity across the world.

Hadiya will be speaking on 2 June on the topic of 'Saving Young Girls from the Eyes of Isis'. To find out more about the talk and the conference - and how you can get tickets, head to the SXSW website here.

Don't forget our mapper app

Don't forget that our Kindness Mapper is now available on a new web platform and we have also made it available as an app via the App Store and Google Play Store.

As well as finding out what's happening in your local area, there's a brand new feature that allows you to donate to organisations you support.

Lots of feedback we've received over the years has been that people would find our mapper easier to use in app form, so we are really excited to finally make that a reality. Find out more about the map here. Download for iPhone here and on Google Play here.