The Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies

A New Phase for So-Wide

So-Wide has entered a new phase:

¨ The OMC:

ö has secured a platform for future growth, in that:

· the POWIC building is now (at last!) in good order and the team has settled in;

· the programme of work for the NHS is running smoothly;

· various projects are launched and have built up momentum, e.g.:

§ Mindfulness in schools

§ Mindfulness in the workplace

§ Mindfulness in the treatment of Health Anxiety; so we

ö must now connect with range of partners and constituencies, of whom:

· some will naturally respond to the OMC within the So-Wide context

· others we can in the first place address more effectively in terms of straightforward mental health and wellbeing; so So-Wide

ö brought in some professional fundraisers and a plan was prepared to present the OMC’s work more widely, both in its own (contemporary psychological) terms and also in its relationship to the Buddhist tradition; and the OMC at the same time

ö formed a Development Committee of its own.

¨ So-Wide’s parallel Development Plan incorporates the OMC plan and at the same time has a strong focus on the needs of the OCBS, which:

ö is strengthening its administrative base (as you may perhaps see from the website);

ö is working with some ‘friends upon the way’, good people with a commitment to the practice of wisdom and compassion and a capacity to get things done; and

ö has entered into discussions with the Buddhist Society, with a view to exploring common interests and potential synergies.