Cleaning, clearing and archiving and changing the world

....are not normally favourite things to do. I understand they need to be done, and done well, I just don't enjoy it. However that was my task here at Brook yesterday and will be again today.

Contrary to my expectation, it has been an absolute treat because it has given me greater insight into the determination and courage of so many people in Brook who have provided high quality services for young people, often in a hostile environment. It has also reminded me how much has been achieved since 1964. There are boxes and boxes of letters, negotiations and records of discussions about confidentiality and young people's rights to sexual health services and education. Negotiations that have helped change attitudes towards a more positive view of young people's sexuality.

So, it is new year resolution time - if you make them, as you write your list consider the words of Marian Wright Edelman an American attorney and civil rights activist who said 'if you don't like the way the world is, you change it. You have an obligation to change it. You just do it one step at a time.'