In October 2016, leaders from across the world gathered for three powerful days of connection, celebration, education, and inspiration in the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City for Movement Day Global Cities. One Heart One Voice was privileged to be part of a UK group of over 100 leaders, sending a team of 7 (5 of whom were millennial leaders) to this amazing event. We prayed, cried, laughed, and challenged one another, but ultimately came away humbled, energized, and inspired to work together to see change in our city.

Movement Day UK was subsequently held in October 2017 in London, with a team from One Heart One Voice attending and helping lead the event which drew over 1000 leaders across the UK.

Movement Day Doncaster took place on Wednesday 20th June 2018 and was about continuing the conversation we started in New York, growing the global relationships we began with the New York City Leadership team, and encouraging Church, Commercial, Civic, and Community, leaders in Doncaster to join the movement.

Movement Day Doncaster was the very first of several city based Movement Days to held in the UK over the following years.

It’s a fact that everything rises or falls on leadership. Whether in a small organisation, or an entire city, leadership sets the culture. Get leadership right and everything else follows. Quite simply Movement Day Doncaster had three aims:

We celebrated unity as one church in Doncaster;
It had been 20 yeas since One Heart One Voice was birthed, and we wanted to join with the whole church in celebrating this together.

We connected those in strategic leadership across Doncaster;
By joining the dots between leaders, we can help to affect powerful change across Doncaster.

We created a conversation that will continue into the future;
Relationships are foundational to all we hope to achieve together, by building connections we can maintain momentum.

If we are to have the biggest impact in our place, we need to ensure that we focus on the areas where the shape of our place is being formed, and the narrative is being written. Church, Commercial, Civic, and Community; each of these leadership quarters contributes to influencing people and places.

Following on from Movement Day Doncaster in June 2018, and the launch of their book “Are We Brave Enough?” in January 2019, Ian & Alyson formed Catalyst. The vision of Catalyst is to be a stimulus for unity across the entire spectrum of place leadership. Be it Church, Commercial, Civic, or Community, Catalyst creates contexts for connections, conversations, growth and transformation.

To pursue the transformational agenda set during Movement Day Doncaster, Ian & Alyson continue to invest in the City of Doncaster via their Business, Civic and Community roles. This ongoing agenda is mobilized through their charity The Jubilee Trust and currently includes:

• Connecting strategic Christian leaders across the Borough of Doncaster and Yorkshire
• Developing a range of events, projects and services delivered around transformational community themes
• Providing consultations and focus groups designed to assess community need and identify responses
• Working with civic leadership on policies and procedures that directly affect Community group operations
• Working with civic leadership on developing and re-purposing Community Assets
• Working with civic leadership supporting societal agendas (eg. climate change, mental health, equality & diversity)
• Developing key business relationships that will actively support, and invest in community transformation projects
• Developing wider Church, Commercial, Civic, and Community connections across Yorkshire

Using their book “Are We Brave Enough?” as a framework, Ian & Alyson have developed a range of leadership tools that aid commercial, civic and community unity. You can find out more about Catalyst and how to get involved by contacting Ian & Alyson directly.