RSA Breakfast Club

This event series is currently paused. Fellows are encouraged to get in touch if they have an idea for a breakfast or morning event to be held in Rawthmells. For more information contact Rawthmells.Coffeehouse@rsa.org.uk.

RSA Breakfast Club offers a monthly opportunity to meet other Fellows and start the day with a purposeful conversation.

Grab a coffee and some breakfast to fuel an informal conversation around the Fellowship table. Every month we discuss a different question that contains the energy for social change. Come along if you are curious and don't worry about being an expert - the more diverse the voices present, the more constructive and interesting the conversation is! 

How it works: the host will introduce the topic in a maximum of ten minutes and set out the question(s) for discussion, before facilitating a conversation around the table. After breakfast each member of the group will be invited to commit to take action to develop the conversation and make positive change where they can, within their spheres of influence. 

If there is a question you'd like to bring or a conversation you are itching to start, please get in touch with Rawthmells Events and Programme Manager, with a short description of your topic (no more than 160 words).  

Location: Dr Cross Room, Rawthmells Coffeehouse, RSA House, 8 John Adam Street, WC2N 6EZ

Last Breakfast Club conversations:  

Wednesday 9th October: The value of community mediation

Could creatively measuring the benefits of community mediation help society value it more?  

Community mediation involves the deployment of trained practitioners who help people in dispute to resolve their differences without external intervention.  The parties engaged in conflict may be neighbours or may belong to larger residential groups.  The issues involved can include nuisances such as noise, anti-social behaviour or alleged harassment, teenage-parent conflict within a family, landlord-tenant issues in social housing, or dis-harmony in managed residential communities.

Where mediation is successful, the debilitating effects of the dispute or conflict are removed and improvements in quality of life for those affected can be dramatic.   But how can these beneficial effects be measured other than in subjective terms?  To justify investment, the benefits need to be measured in money terms.  But how can this be achieved?

This conversation will be hosted and facilitated by Dr John Allison FCIArb FRSA, Chair of the London Community Mediation Council.

John will invite you to consider two categories of benefit that can arise from community mediation:

Savings to the public purse

Where mediation succeeds, there is no doubt that the cost of statutory interventions is significantly reduced - community police, anti-social behaviour teams, social landlords, social workers, etc. need no longer intervene.

Value to the Parties involved in the dispute or conflict

The monetary value to the parties involved may sometimes be very apparent - avoidance of job loss, avoidance of eviction and homelessness, etc.  But, what about the value of benefits that are not apparent to the outside observer - increased wellbeing due to removal of stress and anxiety, improved health, renewal of previously fraught relationships, etc?

He will argue that

• Improvements to wellbeing are the primary benefits of community mediation and these can be measured in monetary terms using the wellbeing valuation method

• Savings to the public purse are secondary benefits and, though significant, they my not represent the largest component

• Overall monetary benef

More Information

Please keep an eye on this page and your inbox for news about the Rawthmells programme. 

In the meantime, to see what is coming up in Rawthmells and accross London, please click here. 

Please click here for Rawthmells accessibility statement. Please note that wheelchair access to The Steps is currently restricted whilst we await the delivery of a custom-made platform. Please get in touch to discuss access via rawthmells@rsa.org.uk or call Rawthmells Events and Programme manager on +44 (0)20 7451 6937 for more information.

Please also let us know if you have any dietary requirements or severe allergies.