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CIRCLES OF SUPPORT 'The Circle is hard to describe;
it's too simple' The idea of a circle of support was developed in Canada, spread fairly quickly through North America and our early circles here in the UK began in the mid 1980s. A circle of support, sometimes called a circle of friends, is a group of people who meet together on a regular basis to help somebody accomplish their personal goals in life. The circle acts as a community around that person (the 'focus person') who, for one reason or another, is unable to achieve what they want in life on their own and decides to ask others for help. The focus person is in charge, both in deciding who to invite to be in the circle, and also in the direction that the circle's energy is employed, although a facilitator is normally chosen from within the circle to take care of the work required to keep it running. The members of the circle, who may include family, friends and other community members, are usually not paid to be there. They are involved because they care enough about the focus person to give their time and energy to helping that person to overcome obstacles and increase the options which are open to them. Although the focus person's goals are the primary drive in everything the circle does, the relationship is not just one way. The members will all have diverse gifts and interests, and there can appear many new opportunities and possibilities which had not even been considered before the forming of the circle. Because of this, an important function of the circle is to regularly re-visit the plans which they are working with, to keep the direction current in terms of what the person really wishes to achieve. The circle is not a service or tool to be applied to a certain group of people. Circles are about seeing people as individuals who feel they need support in order to take more control over their own lives. A circle properly facilitated is empowering to all of the individuals involved and, unlike many service systems, does not reinforce dependence.
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Send mail to: information@circlesnetwork.org.uk with
questions or comments about this web site.
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