Minutes HWBSP – Oct 2019

Health & Wellbeing, Safety & Protection Team

Minutes 6 th October 2019

Persons present: Michaela K., Yukiko P., Nele S., Debbie C. (last 30 minutes)
Chairing: N. Schoeller
Minutes: N. Schoeller
Context of the meeting: 2nd meeting of the H.&W., S.&P. Team

• Embodiment of our values:
Manifest agreed boundaries (time, identity)
Share our intentions for being part of this team, the work ahead & this specific
meeting
Practice deep listening (4 levels – U.Theory)
Reflect on: What is urgent and what is important, and how do we respond to either?
Experience a good balance of work & nourishment (with snacks provided by
members)
• Find consensus for a delegate of the H&W, S& P team
Content:
1. Intentions:
We shared with each other our intentions for this specific meeting as well as for our work
for the weeks and months ahead:
• to speak clearly and in a contained fashion
• to listen with an open, curious mind (refrain from judgment), and an open heart
(compassionately)
• to be authentic in our sharing, yet genuinely care for each other in our difference
• to create a governing structure within in the sangha which is more open, fairer and
transparent with a good, manifest boundaries (‘safer’)
• to create and manifest a Care & Conduct policy and safeguarding structure and
training that serves the sangha (members as well as the volunteers who provide
these services) better than before
• to acknowledge that we, the individuals of this group as well as the group as a
whole, don’t have all or even any of the answers and that we need to reach out to
others for support & guidance (for example organisations which provide
safeguarding training)
2. Letter from Tessa (identified in her role as a senior teacher/trainer for MIs & Guides)
Tessa contacted our team via email, conveying some of the MIs/Guides’ concerns and
their expressed need for more guidance about a number of safeguarding issues such as
their own safety being alone with students in the upstairs shrine room, how to deal with
boundary transgressions by students, and how to deal with mental health issues in
students and talk about suicide by students of those MIs and Guides.

We discussed the letter, acknowledged the complexity of their needs and agreed that we
don’t simply want to ‘deliver’ guidance and training (‘top down’) but work at this
together, in dialogue with the MIs/Guides and create space for dialogue.
We agreed that potentially more specific training for them might be needed, which will be
discussed in further H&W, S& P team meetings. However, we also agreed that the safety
of the MIs/Guides is an urgent concern that needs to be addressed sooner rather than
later.
3. Open Questions:
• What does the London sangha really need in term of Health & Wellbeing, Safety &
Protection?
Shall we do a brief UK-wide survey (3 questions)?
No consensus was found yet and the discussion on these questions will continue.
• Where do we stand as an organisation in terms of safeguarding policy and
safeguarding positions in relation to the requirements of the Charity Commission?
To be further discussed
4. Finding consensus on the delegate:
We found consensus:
Michaela will be the first delegate for the H&W, S&P team. She intends to hold this post
for 6 months but this time boundary will be reviewed if and when necessary.
5. Presentation on existing Care & Conduct policy & positions:
Debbie gave the team a short presentation on the existing Care & Conduct policy &
Safeguarding guidelines (which soon will be replaced by an updated version), its
structure, training and what positions exist right now within the London sangha, and the
role of the Kasung in this context.
This process of making Care & Conduct and Safeguarding policies within Shambhala
more transparent will continue.
Emerging Purpose/Future:
Action points:
• Michaela will attend the first council meeting as the delegate for the H&W, S&P
team.
• Michaela intends to discuss in the first council meeting how and with whom the
minutes of the various team meetings are going to be shared. For now they will be
only shared with the persons who were present for approval
• Debbie will provide us, the team members, via email with a little more information
on the Kasung, the Kasung’s role in terms of Care & Conduct and the filled
positions of the Kasung & Desung within the London sangha (names).
• Nele will take partake ‘The Desung Path: Protecting Basic Goodness in Enlightened
Society’ (18th-20th Oct. 2019) as a member of the H&W, S&P team
• The next meeting date needs to be agreed on and confirmed by the delegate and
members of the team – then shared with Ariela for the website