IN THE SPACE WITH… DAN MORRIS
It is at the core of Old Diorama’s charitable purpose to provide space and opportunities for local and creative communities and, in doing so, we are fortunate to meet fascinating people doing inspiring things. This is the latest in a series of interviews with some of the people and organisations we support at ODAC.
Dan Morris is the Job Hub Lead at London Borough of Camden and a regular visitor to ODAC where, along with a team of other people, he meets local people and helps them find ‘good work’.
Would you introduce yourself and what you do?
My name’s Dan Morris and my role is Job Hub Lead for Regents Park. II work as a part of a wider package of support for Camden Council which is known as Good Work Camden. We have a team of advisors and brokers and their role is to support residents into finding good work, and staying in good work, and also engaging with them to communicate about job and training opportunities.
And how does what you do for Good Work Camden link to ODAC?
A big part of our approach to supporting residents is through building partnerships with existing provision in the local area. Through this, co-location spots may emerge. We provide a bespoke, quality service on the doorstep of the residents that need it most, and so we try to base ourselves near to where residents need that support. Old Diorama is perfect for that.
For a while I didn’t come in here because I wasn’t sure how Arts would work in the context of getting people into employment, but now I’ve realised there is a lot of capacity to work together.
First of all we now have ODAC as our main space for meeting residents and for us to hold our team meetings. This is great because firstly it’s very beautiful and welcoming and the ODAC team are great, but also it’s an ideal to be on the doorstep of the Regent’s Park Estate where a lot of our focus is. It really feels like a community centre in Regent’s Park.
It also provides us with a great place for us to host workshops - we recently ran a five week course for residents on dynamic interview training, the idea being that residents developed the confidence and ability to interview well. Likewise the residents that we work with have been utilising the space to run their own businesses, and at least two of our residents are working as part of the ODAC team.
The partnership so far has been very fruitful; and we look forward to our next big event: the Education and Training event on January 13th.
Tell us more about the event!
Something we’ve noticed over the last year is that we could improve our relationships with local education and training providers. Because we support residents into work - that’s our fundamental aim - some residents either need training to get into work, or need up-skilling to find work that’s right for them; so we are running an adult education and training fair at ODAC.
It’ll be the equivalent of a job fair, but instead of jobs, different organisations will be offering free education and training opportunities. We want to give local people more opportunities for training, particularly after COVID.
Who is it that you’re hoping to attend on January 13th?
It’ll be a mixture of people who aren’t currently in employment and people who are but may be looking to change. We’ve designed it to run from 10am - 2pm to hopefully enable parents of kids who are at school to be able to attend and still do drop off or pick up and come to ODAC in between to learn about possible opportunities. So we’re expecting lots of parents, lots of people who are currently unemployed, as well as people who may be currently in part time or casual work, and perhaps some people who are just curious. Everyone’s welcome!
What do you personally like most about working at ODAC?
It’s you! It’s definitely you.
Thanks very much!
Joking aside, [didn’t know Dan was joking] the fact that the team here have immediately bought into what we do and how we do it, and have got involved is so valuable. I’ve been surprised by how much has come from this partnership already, and it’s been great. The space and people are fantastic.
Sometimes we have conversations with residents about their challenging work situations, so when you’re surrounded by people singing and dancing, it can be really good fun and perspective shifting. It’s helpful to be in such a positive environment!
And is there anything you’d like to see us change or improve ?
… The short answer is ‘No’. I just hope for more of the same!
Also, can I just say you’re an amazingly eloquent speaker [he was]! Most people ‘ummm’ or whatever - I don’t think you did a single one. Incredible.
Yeah, I don’t ‘ummm’. I did a training thing once and I was recorded speaking, and I listened to it back and I kept saying ‘ummm’ all the time and I hated it! So I figured out how to not do it.
Wow! What’s the method?
Well I thought I’d never be able to do it, but it’s really simple. The main thing is to be aware of it and just not say it. The ‘ummms’ tend to happen when you’re thinking while you’re saying something, so what I did was close my mouth when I think, just like this: [closes his mouth], and it worked!
That’s very impressive!
Thank you!
Thank you to Dan for taking time to chat to us about the important work he does with Good Work Camden.
For more information and to sign up for the Education & Training Fair on January 13th here at ODAC: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/good-work-camden-education-and-training-fair-tickets-482316691207
