Recently, I was on BBC Radio Leicester on behalf of Leicester Fixers to make a call out to communities across Leicestershire. We have plans to support them with setting up their own repair events and be as successful as we. Thanks to Ben Jackson and its team for inviting us on the show to share our voice. You can catch me on iPlayer at this link from 1hr42mins to 1hr50mins into the programme.
With 26 events under our belt and our successes in changing people perspectives,
a supporter asks me after listening to the show,
why we are not getting paid for what we do?
a supporter asks me after listening to the show,
why we are not getting paid for what we do?
Yes, the return on investment in monetary term is currently elusive. Hopefully, there are other ways to measure success.
I came across Eric Barker book - Barking up The Wrong Tree - where he goes through tonnes of social sciences articles and books to identify measures of success.
He suggests focussing on the feelings of being successful because it could take a while, a long time before one reaches the financial goals he set for himself.
One study of a group of researchers who conducted 60 interviews with high-achieving professionals and surveyed 90 high-level executives support his argument on why we shall focus on to feel successful.
Through the study, the researchers tried to identify what prevented them to be successful. After combining the data, they identified four areas of focus to feel successful.
Achievement
Legacy
Significance
Happiness
Let me illustrate how Leicester Fixers feel successful every single day.
Achievement - We feel like we WINNING.
At every event, we repair an item that would otherwise end up in a landfill. We give people a new experience. We get wonder in their eyes and we always succeed to make them smile. The Restart Project provides us with a tool to record all our repair and this generates some stats as evidence of our achievements. We have many pictures as testimonies of our successes too.
Legacy - We feel like we are INFLUENCING others in a positive way.
Trough conversations at events, on the radio, at a stall in the Riverside Festival in Leicester, we share why we repair. We repair for connection and education - the basis of a healthy social and economic system - not solely for environmental reasons. When people get it, it feels good! Also, our volunteers improve their repair skills overtime because they keep on coming to our events. It feels good too.
Significance - We feel like we NEEDED.
Waste is an issue. Every year, 1 million tonnes of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment in England alone find their way in landfills. The impacts of electrical and electronic equipment are tremendous both environmentally and on humans quality of life here and elsewhere.
Social isolation is also an issue. If people do not feel like they can turn to other humans when they have a problem and prefer buying something new to quickly fix their despair. It is not a sustainable solution in the long run. Waste will come to haunt them eventually. When someone sends us a message on Facebook for help and advice, it feels good to be needed and to be connected.
Happiness - We feel like we are ENJOYING life.
Our repair events are a party. We have people. We have cake, fruit and juice. We have the tools to play with and broken items. We have pictures taken to remind us we had a good time. Time flies, we cannot feel it. When the sun comes down and we go back home after the event, we smile inside - it was a good day. We are happy to have filled it and to feel it wholeheartedly.
Can you see how successful we are?
Coming back to money answering the question of our supporter; we will achieve financial returns eventually.
It is a matter of making YOU in Leicester and across the UK believe FIRST that repair matters and that what we do matters too. Money and its exchange are based on a social agreement between two parties. Believe that we matter and reward us accordingly with your time, money or other resources > We will grow and support more people across Leicestershire. Don't believe in us, we will remain an ephemeral phenomenon in the memories of humankind.
Use the tool too to identify your own success ;) and listen to Eric Barker here