Posts Tagged ‘Sweden’

Just back from the Swedish leg of the Spire project. What a place. Hjo (kind of pronounced “you”) is a small town of about 8,800 people. Some real eye openers are that for such a small population there are 17 social workers – here in the UK there are single social workers with case loads that big! During our four-day visit we saw one instance of graffiti, but not in Hjo itself, two pieces of litter and very little chewing gum trodden into the street. Alcohol is jolly expensive and its purchase controlled.   The roads are well maintained and traffic relatively light. Last orders at the bar on a Friday night is 10:30, that is supposing that one can find a bar open this late. Everyone seems to take a break at lunchtime for a cooked lunch. The workday begins at about 8am.

 A huge thank you must be sent to Anna and her team for the fantastic hospitality we enjoyed. During our stay we were given a tour of the town by the city architect that included a fleeting visit to the last remaining tinsmiths in the area. All of the guttering for the wooden houses in the city are hand made. Another highlight of the trip was a lecture given by the trout preservation ecology group, who have restored fish stocks to the town’s lake single-handed through their clearing of the tributary streams.

 A visit to Utväg was an inspiring bonus for the trip. Lovely to meet Christina again after her recent trip to Harborough.  Utväg is a centre supporting people who suffer from domestic abuse, or violence in close relationships as it is known in Sweden. Here women and children can begin to come to terms with domestic abuse and develop processes for reconstructing their lives. For me one of the innovations of the centre is the treatment of men as the perpetrators of domestic abuse. Treat the cause as well as the effect in an effort to break the cycle of abuse.

Fantastic stuff.

Link to Hjo: www.hjo.se  
Link to Utväg: www.utvag.se

For more information on the Spire project visit www.spirecentral.org