Homeward bound....

Well - I can't quite believe it but today is last day of my trip and I fly back to the sunny Manchester early tomorrow morning.

I've been away for almost 8 weeks and travelled over 5000 miles within North America. I've travelled by plane, train, bus, bike, boat and pounded the pavements (sorry...sidewalks) in  8 different cities and towns. I have visited 17 organisations, attended 3 conferences and met countless people (I have over 50 business cards of people I have met but there have been many more including numerous random encounters on buses, at train stations, in cafes, by the bike hire stand in Montreal...I could go on! ).

I have talked to so many people about Altogether Better, Community Health Champions and social capital I really wish I'd had a t-shirt with a brief summary printed on it (save me repeating myself so many times over...!).

Whilst I've done a lot of talking about our work in the UK, I have also listened and learned a huge amount from the people I have met who so generously gave time to share their expertise, knowledge, enthusiasm, ideas (and in some cases – their homes!) to help me on my journey. My heartfelt grateful thanks goes out to you all...I couldn't have done this without you!  (I do have several more blog postings waiting in the wings so will continue to post these on my return to the UK - there just hasn't been the time or energy to report everything as I've gone along).

I also want to take this opportunity to mention and thank my funder, The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, without whose generous financial support this trip would not have been possible. Any UK citizens who have been inspired to apply for a Fellowship should check out their website - applications for 2012 are now open!

So, yesterday was my last day of meetings and I was delighted to get to end my trip by meeting John McKnight of the ABCD Institute in Chicago (who just happened to be in Seattle) and to see Jim Diers again. Jim is a community organiser from here in Seattle (I highly recommend his fabulous book ‘Neighbor Power’) and was instrumental in helping me set up my visit to Seattle as well as connecting me with other people in other places. John is a leading light in the ABCD world and continues to travel the globe to speak about his passion and learn from others. Both John and Jim's work has been a great source of inspiration for my trip and so it seemed very fitting to end my time here in their company.



Me with Jim Diers and John McKnight of the ABCD Institute, Chicago

So it’s goodbye North America…and hello England (and jetlag)! But.... the journey doesn't quite end here....the second phase of my fellowship will take me to South Africa in October this year to learn about community engagement and health in a very different context. Watch this space for updates!