Emerging Leaders - Daniel Stone: Creating a Community

Resource type: Podcast

How can we create a space for diverse discussion in our local community? In this episode, Daniel Stone explores how he brought people from all walks of life together in conversation to build a network of people interested in sharing their wisdom with one another.

Daniel Stone is the founder of the Birmingham-based charity, The Philosophers’ Yard, which provides a neutral space to explore life’s big questions. A community activist, project manager and former political campaigner, Daniel seeks to support initiatives that bring people together to develop wisdom and improve communities.

You can find out more about our work to help young people develop ethical leadership skills here.

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The views expressed in these podcasts are those of the speakers and not necessarily reflect those of Cumberland Lodge.

Cumberland Lodge · Emerging Leaders – Daniel Stone: Creating a Community

Episode transcript

00:00 – 00:32

Munny Purba (MP)

How do we create inclusive spaces for dialogue and understanding in a divided world? In this episode, we speak to Daniel Stone, Founder of Birmingham based charity The Philosopher’s Yard, a unique community organisation providing a neutral ground to explore some of life’s big questions. As a community activist, project manager, and former political campaigner, Daniel discusses the challenges he faced in nurturing this initiative and the successes that have shaped his learning path.

00:32 – 00:50

Thank you so much for joining us for the Emerging Leaders podcast, Daniel. We’re really happy to speak to you today.

Daniel Stone (DS)

Oh no thank you and happy to be here as well.

So I think we’ll probably just start off with asking you how you became motivated to start working around this kind of topic, and issue, and area.

00:50 – 01:18

Yeah. So I would say my motivation definitely is related to, I would say just who I am as a person and my background and the things that I’ve observed about the world. So you might hear from my accent, but I’m a Brummie, so I grew up living in Birmingham, born and raised in a place called Handsworth, which is towards the kind of centre of Birmingham, and it’s kind of known really for being a diverse area and has, for a number of decades now, had people living there from all over the world.

01:18 – 01:39

And so actually it’s a really interesting place where you get people from different cultural backgrounds, religious backgrounds, different upbringings, and I think so growing up in a primary school and secondary school where we’re surrounded by difference, I think it had a real impact on how I started to see the world. I think I started to understand that there were lots of different ways of understanding life, whether based on religion or people’s personal beliefs.

01:39 – 02:04

And so actually, that became my starting point, was that there were lots of different ways to see difficult issues, but also to kind of understand how we might better view ourselves and the people in the world around us. So, I think definitely when I was younger, I think that then led to me wanting to… wanting to both understand things from others’ viewpoints, but also seeking to make a difference and make a positive difference in the world.

02:04 – 02:22

So, so when I was younger, I remember getting involved in local politics and campaigning with my local councillor at the time. I was eager to work on small community projects often related to like litter and rubbish but also related to bigger issue that they also change. So I think I always had that mindset to really just ask that question of how do we make our world better?

02:22 – 02:41

And that then kind of started perhaps a longer journey, which I can talk about as we talk, we kind of explore the interview. I’m always eager to ask questions. And I think that’s something that I would really encourage your listeners to do always ask questions about yourself and about the world around you, because there is just so much that’s unknown and interesting.

02:41 – 03:00

Great. And I think that what you’re talking about, especially in the work that you’re doing, is so important when you’re thinking about bringing people together, it’s that diversity that makes us kind of well-rounded and opens our minds up. So I wonder if you can talk a bit about that project, that work that you’re doing that really has led on from that learning for you?

03:00 – 03:22

Yeah, yeah. So one of the main things I’m now committing time to in Birmingham is a charity and an organisation called The Philosophers’ Yard, and we describe The Philosophers’ Yard as providing a neutral space for exploring life’s big questions. So the idea being that we bring together people from different, diverse viewpoints, the people who come decide which topic we’re going to discuss.

03:22 – 03:43

And then we normally have, at least a couple of different speakers who can talk about a particular idea or topic, and that would then kind of talk about in smaller groups and through activities and workshops. So, for example, we’ve explored topics such as consciousness and what it is to be conscious, individualism and collectivism, love was one topic, democracy.

03:43 – 04:01

And so the kind of general format is that, as mentioned, we’ll have a creative activity. For example, in the love event we had an academic from the University of Love who was talking about ideas on sex and relationships from an academic perspective. But then we had somebody from the Birmingham Buddhist Centre who was then talking about love from their tradition.

04:01 – 04:29

And so having this different views in terms of different perspectives, I think meant it was a really rich event where actually you then for somebody who’s come to that event new, you can then have a real sense of actually how different people and how different traditions are viewing the same sort of topic. And so I think definitely having the diversity, both in terms of the speakers, but also in terms of, our attendees and the people who come and we have people who come from all different backgrounds, ages, walks of life.

04:29 – 04:49

And I think it means that we’re able to just learn from each other, because I think we live in a world where, especially through kind of social media, it’s very easy to just associate with people who think in a similar way to you. And so providing a platform that allows us to just experience life from a different viewpoint, really helps us to grow in our understanding and wisdom.

04:49 – 05:17

I think it’s really kind of aligned with the work that we do at Cumberland Lodge, which is really interesting because I think it’s important to see definitely in the world today that, you know, people can be quite divided, like you said, because of social media and things like that, but actually having people together in a room, you know, talking about these kind of broader, bigger issues, I think is quite progressive now, actually, if you think about it. In the past it was like normal practice, but now you’re having to bring people together to make it, make it an event.

05:17 – 05:37

So all that stuff that sounds so interesting, but I wonder if you have faced any barriers in making that happen, you know, that project to get off the ground.

Yeah. So I’d say, I think especially when you are trying to start something and I guess to go on a bit more in terms of the journey. I think we are still relatively new as an organisation.

05:37 – 05:55

So we had our first event, probably just over a year ago. And then the event, the idea itself, was born perhaps kind of six months prior to that. And so how the process works, is I remember kind of having the idea of putting a call on social media, saying I’ve got this idea I’m doing this space.

05:55 – 06:19

Who might be interested in doing it. And so I think at that point, there were then I think probably around 20 or so people responded. I also in that call asked people for their ideas on what sort of topics they wanted to hear about as well, so probably had about 20 responses initially. That then led to probably about five people who then became the core group of people who helped me to plan and design the first set of events.

06:19 – 06:37

So I think definitely when you’re starting out, I think there are often the kind of practical challenges and barriers you face. So even things I guess when you want to do an event there will be cost associated. So how do you then fund the idea of hiring out a space in our case, you know, pay for people to do some of the design, do the photography.

06:37 – 07:00

And so there were definitely some financial barriers to getting started. And I think the reality is often if you have an idea that you’re passionate about, then those initial costs, you have to be willing to put up yourself in order to then see something begin with the hope they will then grow. And then I think that there’s probably a barrier in terms of just having people understand what it is the space was trying to do.

07:00 – 07:21

I think, as you said, it kind of in many ways, is stuff that we used to do before, but actually trying to articulate why it’s important. And we did have a really interesting conversation around the title for it because, as I mentioned, it’s called The Philosophers Yard. And so sometimes people that word philosophy, people think of a certain type of thing and space.

07:21 – 07:48

And it being very academic. And so I think we probably had some work just to let people know that they could come regardless of what their background was. And actually, we chosen that word philosopher because the actual literal meaning of that word is just somebody who loves wisdom. And that was what attracted us to it. That idea of this being a space where wisdom could grow. And then I think now that we’re established the biggest barrier we face, is definitely just getting the word out there.

07:48 – 08:06

And I mean social media’s great, in some, in that case, in terms of trying to promote it.

Yeah.

Via, you know, we’re on Instagram. I think we’re just about on TikTok now as well. But it has also been challenging in terms of how do you get things like this in front of people who, you know, would want to come?

08:06 – 08:19

Because I think the reality is that there probably are a lot of people who would want to come, but who haven’t come across it or haven’t heard of it. And with some of the events, we’ve kind of gone out in the centre of Birmingham and done the thing with like a microphone, you asked people their views on topics.

08:19 – 08:34

And when we talked to people about The Philosophers’ Yard it was like, oh, wow, this is such a really great idea. But they hadn’t heard about it previous to our conversation. And so it is a challenge in terms of how we raise awareness, how we promote it, how we get people hearing about what it is we’re trying to do.

08:34 – 08:53

Yeah. So I think it’s a bit of a balance, isn’t it? You know, seeing a vision and knowing it’s worth it, but actually pushing through those barriers and working towards something that you think is really positive. So, speaking of moving past the barriers, I wonder if you can think about some of the biggest successes that you’ve seen in this project and the things you’re most proud of having achieved.

08:53 – 09:21

Yeah. So I’ve mentioned the project’s been going for just over a year now, and we’ve had… I think we’re coming up to our 10th event soon. So we’ve had a number of really great events already. And so for me, I think some of the biggest successes have been what the room has felt like. And I think we’ve always aimed to create a space that’s inclusive, that’s warm, that people feel able to share their views, even if others in the room might not agree with it.

09:21 – 09:36

And it feels like we’ve been able to, to do that. And I think that’s the greatest success I take from it. The fact that we were able to get different people come and be honest and be open, and also want to come back. A lot of the people who come to our events now have been coming for a series of events and really enjoy it.

09:36 – 09:54

And so there’s actually a really nice community of people that’s being formed. So I think that’s definitely the greatest success I take, the fact that we’ve been able to fulfil that vision in terms of trying to create this, this space that’s warm, that’s neutral, and that really creates that sense of there being an important community that people want to engage with.

09:55 – 10:19

Well, congratulations for 10 events. That’s really a big success so well done. So in terms of you being then a young leader, kind of kicking this off and engaging a community around this sort of love of wisdom and wanting to speak about issues with diverse people. I wonder what you think are the key qualities that you found in your leadership journey, or anything that you’ve learned that you’ve needed to have to become that leader?

10:19 – 10:53

Yeah, I know mostly reflecting on what we said earlier, you know, where there is a degree of just having to be quite resilient and push through barriers. And this isn’t the first thing I’ve tried and some of the things that I tried previously did not have this level of success. So I think that’s the first thing I think in terms of leadership and also in terms of just trying to create something new is to be able to learn and reflect from things that have gone in the past, and often the greatest learnings you get are from things that haven’t worked out or haven’t worked well.

10:53 – 11:27

I remember one idea in particular I had called The Insight Project, which was really a play on the idea of insight, but also in sight. The idea of seeing something.

Oh wow.

You see, you see that. So the whole idea was trying to create opportunities effectively for young people to be able to engage with employers and visit employers and go into a place of work so that they could then see what different kind of work environments would offer. With a view to then building their aspirations, and their sense of actually what they might want to do in the future.

11:27 – 11:48

So it’s not like it’s not a valid idea. It’s an interesting idea.

Yeah, it is, and it makes sense with that, with that title actually too.

Yeah. But then the challenge really was that I definitely had not done my research into actually what I needed to do to establish something like that in a sustainable way. And I also effectively tried to do on my own.

11:48 – 12:07

So I tried to go off, find my own contacts, plan my on sessions, didn’t really tell anyone about it. And so really had that approach. And then in the end, you know, both the the kind of business model in terms of how much business I expected to be able to kind of get from it, that did not meet some of the initial expectations I’d set.

12:07 – 12:31

And also, I think the wider idea just did wasn’t as developed as I thought. And so some of the key lessons I had was definitely around involvement with other people. I think we all have, you know, particular skill sets, ways of being. But actually, when you’re able to build a team, you’re able to pull in so many different other skills and so many other people have particular, strengths as well, that, that they can bring in your team.

12:31 – 12:54

And so I definitely I learned the importance of building a team, being open to think in detail about initial ideas that I have, but also to be able to go back to the drawing board and rethink if things aren’t quite working something. So I think those are probably two of the key lessons I’ve learned. And then I think, thirdly, just kind of recognising your own particular strengths and what it is you then bring to a team.

12:54 – 13:12

So I’d say as a leader myself, of somebody who is quite organised, I think, I I’m somebody in my professional life, I’m a kind of project manager. So the idea of actually giving something a bit of structure and figuring out what steps need to happen in order to get to and then go. And it works naturally for me.

13:12 – 13:28

So that’s kind of what I can also bring to the team, but I recognise that other team members can both build on that but also bring their own strengths. So I think doing that and then probably the fourth thing I’d say is also that recognising when you build a team, how do you make it an environment where other people are learning and developing as well?

13:28 – 13:44

And sometimes it can be really easy to focus on actually yeah, we’ve got to deliver this thing and this is it. But how do you develop that sensitive thing that says, you know, if you’ve got these people, especially for us, who are volunteering and giving their time, but how do you make this a worthwhile experience for them?

13:44 – 14:06

How do you make this a team environment where people feel able to share and be open, and where they’re enjoying being part of this creative experience as well?

Yeah, I mean, really important bits of advice there. And I think your journey kind of shows that you need that resilience. Like you say, you know, something may not work, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t, you know, use those skills and experiences that you’ve learned there to do something else, all a learning curve.

14:06 – 14:27

So yeah, really, really important advice. So then if we’re thinking about actually encouraging more young people to be involved in campaigns for change or becoming leaders in their own right around things that they care about and projects that they have, what sort of advice would you give them? You know, you kind of shared a bit of some stuff that you’ve learned along the way.

14:27 – 14:53

But if we were to think about young people going out and doing this, what would you tell them?

Yeah, I’d say probably it begins with that first bit of just asking questions of yourself, I think questions about the world, because I imagine there’ll be young people and perhaps, like not so young people, listening to this

Yeah

podcast who might be at different stages or some people, as say might have that idea. So they might have a thing where they think, actually, this is something that I really care about.

14:53 – 15:23

And I want to yeah, kind of commit time and energy to changing. I think for those people, I think my advice would be to just get involved, but also to kind of have a think around, are there other organisations already in existence who are doing work in the area that you’re passionate about? I think often there is a temptation to want to kind of start something when actually, you know, if there is something that’s already there, then it could be a better use of your energy to be able to contribute to something and to make that thing better.

15:23 – 15:41

Because if you do build something from scratch, there is a lot of the, you know, the planning, the setting stuff up, the that side of things which might not be the thing that people are as passionate about. So I think my first thing would just be to have a look, to see what else is out there. But then if you do decide actually you want to start something, then I think definitely just getting out there and doing it.

15:41 – 16:01

I think sometimes there can be a temptation to want to, you know, start big and, you know, all or nothing. But I think very much starting small or starting where you’re at, whether it’s in your school, your kind of uni, your kind of direct community. I’ve mentioned a lot of where I began was in my community, the area around Handsworth.

16:01 – 16:19

So I would say definitely just begin where you are because you’ll learn so much just from getting started. And then for that other group of people then who are still searching and looking for that thing that they might want to invest time and energy in, I’d say to just kind of keep looking, to keep your eyes open, to keep being responsive to those things that you feel passionate about.

16:19 – 16:34

And often there’s kind of a sense of if you start like reading something or maybe even watching something on TV or the news, like, what are your things that draw you in? What are the things that make you want to read more or look more into it? What are the things that kind of make you a bit angry sometimes?

16:33 – 16:52

Or make your blood boil when you hear about things. So I’d say just be responsive, be alert to the things that really start to pull at your heart strings and then see if you can then start on that journey of developing more knowledge around it and deciding if it’s something that you think you’d want to spend and commit more time to.

16:52 – 17:10

Lovely. Thank you. I think so much worthwhile advice there. So, I think that’s going to be really helpful to any of our listeners, be they a younger audience or, you know, anyone that wants to start something. And I think on that note, we kind of will start to think about your future plans. Anything exciting you’ve got coming up that you want to share with us?

17:10 – 17:30

Yeah. So I think there’s probably a few things so related to The Philosophers’ Yard, I think we definitely are in a moment now where we’re thinking about how to expand and extend our work. So as I mentioned, we have the events that we do in person and online in Birmingham. I think we’re thinking of extending that in two ways. One is by having, additional events.

17:30 – 17:58

So events that will be slightly more informal, opportunities to drop in, meet up, have a conversation with the other people in the community. But we’re also planning to extend in terms of doing educational work. So thinking about how we might be able to get some of the important lessons that we’re gathering around ideas of philosophy, but related to things around disability and, and mental health and youth empowerment, and thinking about how we might be able to turn some of those things into workshops

17:58 – 18:20

that we can offer to schools and young people. So I think there’s definitely a real excitement about how we might be able to grow some of the offer that we’re doing for The Philosophers’ Yard and how we might spread this idea of wisdom into other parts of society. And I think beyond that, I think it’s always good to have things outside of the work that that you’re kind of passionate about as well.

18:20 – 18:47

But also I mentioned my profession. So professionally I work for the West Midlands Combined Authority, which is for a level of government. So for us, I guess there is also, a further sense of excitement, both in the kind of run up to the kind of upcoming general election, to see what that particular result may mean for regional areas and also for some of the kind of initiatives we’re working on here, which, again, have the promise of trying to improve lives and improve communities in the West Midlands.

18:47 – 19:09

So, yeah, a lot to be excited about.

Lots to be excited about and also lots to celebrate because lots of good stuff coming up with The Philosphers’ Yard ten events is amazing. And I’m excited to see the journey and how it grows and how you can build those workshops and work more with young people.

19:02 – 19:21

So I’ll be following your journey, that’s for sure.

Ah thank you.

Thank you so much for speaking to me, and it was really interesting, and I hope that we can get more people involved in your project. And please do keep an eye out for The Philosophers’ Yard on Instagram or TikTok or wherever you are.

So thank you and thank you all.

19:21 – 19:40

Thanks for listening. You can find out more about the work we do at Cumberland Lodge with young people and beyond, by visiting cumberlandlodge.ac.uk. You can also find us on social media @CumberlandLodge.