On 9 October 2025, Camden Council welcomed a vibrant community of changemakers to mark the official launch of the Camden Centre for Relational Practice. 

Hosted by Nana Bonsu, the event brought together colleagues from across the country to explore how relational approaches can transform leadership, collaboration and service delivery. 

Nana's keynote speech set the tone, highlighting her essential themes for relational practice:

• self-reflection - understanding how our lived experience shapes our perspective
• courage - embracing discomfort and challenging systems
• feedback - staying grounded and open to ideas from all voices
• imagination - thinking beyond the obvious to find new solutions

We heard powerful stories from a diverse group of storytellers including:

• Amani Simpson, award winning Youth Coach, Filmmaker and Visionary
• Benaifer Bhandari, Chief Executive of Hopscotch Womens Centre
• Bev Hendricks, Executive Director for Children, Lifelong Learning and Families at Merton Council
• A young Camden resident
• Dr Taiwo Afuape, consultant Clinical Psychologist and Systemic Psychotherapist 
• Wendy Sharps from 'Making it Real, Doncaster Adults, Health and Wellbeing Board

Each speaker shared a story of relational cultures in public services, how it had shaped their work, and made a real difference to their work and communities. 

A live illustrator Josh Knowles captured key moments and ideas throughout the afternoon, creating a vibrant visual summary for attendees and those who couldn't be there. 

Camden Council Leader Richard Olszewski closed the event by saying we are stronger together - when public services listen to, work with, and are shaped by the communities they serve, in new relationships of respect, reciprocity and collaboration. This has been a central mission for Camden for the last 10 years. The Centre for Relational Practice is a punctuation point in our journey for the next 10 years and beyond. 

Following our public launch in October 2025, the Centre is hosting a webinar series on relational public services. Each month for six months, we take an aspect of relational culture-building in public services, describe what we think it means, and explore real-world examples of practically applying it. The webinars are free, and all are welcome to attend. 

Use the links below to sign up: 

Relational Leadership: leveraging whole system leadership to drive a relational culture - with examples from Directors in People and Inclusion, Children and Learning, and Strategy, Design and Insight.
Thursday 20 November 2025, 1pm to 1.55pm, register here  

Relational People Practices: embedding everyday relational practice in unexpected public service places – with examples from Contact Centre, Youth Justice and Money Advice Services.
Thursday 11 December 2025, 2pm to 2.55pm, register here
 

Relational Infrastructure and Service Design: using design to create the conditions for relationships in public services to thrive – with examples from Libraries, Adults Early Help and Employment Support.
Tuesday 27 January 2026, 11am to 11.55am, register here

Relational Culture Building in Complex Policy Spaces: addressing the relational component of successfully navigating complex policy - with examples from Missions, Housing and Integrated Neighbourhoods. 
Wednesday 25 February 2026, 12noon to 12.55pm, register here 

Relational Participation and Power Sharing: public services and communities participating together and sharing power – with examples from Community Wealth Fund, Young Community Guardians and Raise Camden (public health and child poverty).
Tuesday 24 March 2026, 11am to 11.55am, register here

Relational culture building question time: your questions answered.
Thursday 30 April 2026, 2pm to 2.55pm, register here