This month’s story from Adrian Field of Dovetail, a member of the Kinnect Group.
Adrian runs Dovetail, a research and evaluation consultancy.
“Lockdown definitely had its challenges, but there were also some positive things that happened. Lots of people talked about how the streets were safe for people of all ages to enjoy their neighbourhoods and to walk and cycle. It would be great if we could keep building that sense of streets being for everyone, not just for cars, both here in Grey Lynn and across the city,” says Adrian.
Adrian works for central and local government and community organisations, to help understand the impact of the services they fund or deliver. He looks at how the services are running, if they’re doing what was intended, how they’re making a difference, and ways that they could be improved.
“I really enjoy the variety of work and the opportunity to meet people from all sorts of walks of life’” says Adrian. He says that when he went into lockdown he was relieved.
“I knew where I needed to be and it was the best way for us all to be safe. I was also very fortunate that I had some ongoing work that kept me busy. An opportunity came up during lockdown to work with a local arts trust to explore the impact of COVID on the creative sector, and the report was recently made publicly available (https://www.tetaumatatoiaiwi.org.nz/covid-19/). At the time quite a few organisations around the country were doing the same thing, and I think this all helped secure the government’s recent funding boost to the creative sector.”
We asked Adrian why he supports Grey Lynn & Around.
“The biggest drawcard for me has been the different types of business development learning. These have been really helpful in getting some fresh ideas in how to run the business, marketing and coping with the pressure points.
“I found the recent series of sessions through Auckland Emergency Management Office which teamed up with Resilient Organisations to bring the series of workshops on business resilience. They were very useful for adapting to the current challenges presented by COVID, and it was also great to connect with others from around Grey Lynn and the city,” says Adrian.