Meet Peter Burton, Founder of Communicate for a Change

Primary interest
Families and Parenting

Peter Burton is founder of Communicate for a Change and is one of the trainers for Brighter Futures for Children’s Reducing Parental Conflict programme. Peter also facilitates the Dads and Male Carers’ Support Group for Parenting Special Children and is soon to host a new show on Aurora Family Radio. Here Peter reflects on the threads of ‘communication and community’ running through his work and personal life.

Sitting at a keyboard writing this, it seems a lifetime ago since I was a state school secondary teacher of English and Drama, which I did for 12 years before a change of direction led me to work at Reading Borough Council in play development. Who now remembers drop-in play schemes, The Fun Bus, The Action Van, After School Clubs and the start of Holiday Play Clubs? Whilst I was there, it also seemed like a good idea to celebrate the children and young people of the town, so I started the Children’s Festival. It does seem that a thread running through my personal and working life can be summed up in two words: communication and community.

Learning how to improve my communication and that of others, in order to bring peace to ourselves and those we are in relationship with, has been of paramount importance, whether in a personal, family or work relationship. One expression of this is through my personal coaching work, which helps individuals to make changes in their lives or come to terms with changes that they weren’t expecting so they don’t just survive these but thrive.

One common area of communication difficulty is in knowing how to navigate safely and confidently through conflict. This comes as no surprise to me, for where have we learned the knowledge and skills to do this skilfully? Maybe like you, I only had my own family and school experience to call upon. Need I say more?! So I set off on an educational journey in the late 1990s, which continues to this day, learning and applying the knowledge and skills of NLP Nonviolent Communication, Mediation and Restorative Practice.

This has led me to be part of the Reducing Parental Conflict programme, teaching frontline practitioners the knowledge and skills to help parents – who are engaged in conflict that is frequent, intense and poorly resolved – learn better ways to resolve their differences. What I love about this is helping the staff of various organisations develop their knowledge and skills so that they can, in turn, help and support parents to work more collaboratively, which eases life’s daily strain.

Oh, did I mention family? Mine that is! I’m a dad to 3 grown up sons, granddad to 5 grandsons and 1 granddaughter and play an active part in their lives. It’s rare that a day goes past without some type of communication between us, usually over ‘the etherwaves’.

For the past 3 years, I’ve been facilitating a monthly Dads and Male Carers’ Support Group which I do as part of the work of the local charity, Parenting Special Children. This vital charity provides county wide information, support and training for parents and carers who look after children and young people with special needs and disabilities. The Dads and Male Carers’ Group addresses a need that we males have but often struggle to acknowledge and accept. Asking for help and support have traditionally been seen as signs of weakness and lack, yet today, more than ever, the opportunity to come together with other males in similar situations, to speak and be heard without judgement and with acceptance provides a vital balance in their challenging lives.

Oh, I nearly forgot! There’s the allotment I’ve shared with my partner for the past 11 years. It’s a little quiet at the time of writing but it won’t be long before it’ll get wonderfully hectic! I do love the way that connecting with the land and the tasks of sowing and nurturing require me to move at the speed of my body rather than my busy mind. As well as the joy (and sometimes the disappointment!) of growing food from seed to plate.

And lastly, something I’m excited about which will be launching very soon, is a show I’ll be hosting on Aurora Family Radio. It’s a weekly 2 hour show on a Friday morning called ‘Passions’, when I’ll be sharing some of my own passions and interviewing people who are passionate about their work and interests. If ever there was a form where community and communication come together then for me, radio is it. Aurora Family are a community enterprise, based in Newtown where I lived for 20 years and represent everything I loved about that part of Reading. What I love about the whole of Reading in fact. A diverse population displaying acceptance and celebration of each other. What’s not to like?

Well, I’ll finish there as I need to be getting ready to teach some year 7 children to improve their public speaking and acting skills at a local after-school class. Never a dull moment!

I hope that gives you a flavour of what I’m about and how my life flows, so I’ll say thanks for reading.

Here are my details if you’d like to make contact: