L2M Coaching & Mentoring
Sawubona resources

L2M Coaching · Sawubona community resource · 08

Walk & Connect.
One hour of human connection.

I see you. I hear you. You matter.

A Sawubona gathering brings people together to practise listening and experience being heard. Each hour includes a short lesson, equal optional conversation turns, private reflection and a gentle close.

Adults 18+60 minutesTwo prepared hostsMaximum 12 participants
Download the resources See the 60-minute plan
Walk and Connect visual host cheat sheet. The full timetable and listening steps are provided as text below.
Print it for the session or keep it on your phone. Select to enlarge.

What is Walk & Connect?

A practical way to bring “I see you, I hear you” into everyday community life. People take turns speaking and listening, without pressure to disclose, achieve a goal or explain themselves to the group.

A gentle walk or wheel is one option. A fully seated meeting uses the same listening practice. Choose a checked format that includes the whole group; do not split the group unless each separate group has two prepared hosts.

Who can use it?

Community organisers, adult groups and workplace or neighbourhood hosts who can complete the preparation and local arrangements. Participants need no coaching experience and may speak, listen quietly, pause or pass.

This adult pilot offers community listening and connection. It does not provide counselling, diagnosis or crisis care. Preparing to host this activity does not qualify someone as a Sawubona Practitioner.

Work with under-18s requires a separately designed safeguarding and delivery plan; this handbook does not cover it.

Before the first invitation

Prepare together. Then welcome the group.

The cheat sheet helps you remember the session. The handbook and completed local plan provide the preparation behind it. Resolve the launch requirements before inviting people.

  1. 1

    Start with the handbook

    Read the operating standard and scripts together. Use the 75-minute host orientation, observed rehearsal and readiness sheet. Route checks and local service checks happen separately.

  2. 2

    Prepare the local setting

    Name the organiser, lead host and supporting host. Check the route or room, access, seating, toilets, weather alternative, first-aid provision and cancellation arrangements.

  3. 3

    Complete the local response plan

    Verify emergency, safeguarding and routine support contacts. Agree who supports a person, who oversees the group and how concerns are recorded securely.

  4. 4

    Invite people clearly

    State the precise meeting point, time, format, access information, any costs and contact details. This pilot is for adults 18+, with a maximum of 12 participants excluding the two hosts.

Your session at a glance

How to run the hour.

Times below are minutes from the start. Keep the agreement, equal optional turns and complete close in every session. Stop conversations at crossings or hazards and attend to the route.

  1. 00–08 minutes

    Arrive

    Welcome people, check access needs and count arrivals. Offer an optional one-word check-in.

  2. 08–13 minutes

    See & agree

    Explain the choices, group agreement, privacy limits, concerns route and walking route or venue before anyone shares.

  3. 13–20 minutes

    Learn

    Teach one seven-minute listening lesson: explain the skill, demonstrate it with an everyday example and practise briefly.

  4. 20–40 minutes

    Listen & understand

    Settle in pairs for 2 minutes. A may speak for 5 minutes, then receive 2 minutes of reflection and checking. Swap for 7 minutes; use the final 4 minutes to reflect and return.

  5. 40–50 minutes

    Support

    Reflect on your own experience of listening or being heard. Keep your partner’s story private. Offer a discreet host check-in.

  6. 50–57 minutes

    Connect

    Choose a private, manageable next step, or choose no action. Agree any further contact or support explicitly.

  7. 57–60 minutes

    Close

    Offer an optional check-out, reconcile arrivals and departures, confirm any support handovers and announce the formal close.

The listening loop

Help people feel heard.

  1. 1

    Ask permission

    “Would you like to talk, or would quiet company suit you?”

  2. 2

    Listen

    Let the person finish. Give pauses room without deciding what they mean.

  3. 3

    Reflect & check

    “What I heard was … Have I understood?” Use their words rather than an interpretation.

  4. 4

    Accept correction

    Let them change or clarify your reflection. Their meaning belongs to them.

  5. 5

    Ask what helps

    “Would you like listening, some options or support from a host?” Respect the answer.

Choose a starting question.

  • “How are you arriving today?”
  • “What is taking up your attention?”
  • “What has given you energy or support this week?”
  • “What would you like someone to understand?”

Use a prompt, choose your own topic or pass. In the group reflection, describe your experience rather than your partner’s story.

One lesson each time.

Begin with permission and reflection. The handbook then offers lessons on naming feelings, making room for pauses, asking what support is wanted, caring with boundaries and choosing a manageable next step.

Keep the seven-minute lesson slot and revisit a skill when helpful. Use everyday or fictional examples; welcome newcomers without making personal disclosure part of the lesson.

Choice, privacy and care.

  • People may pass, pause, change partner or leave after telling a host. Sharing, advice, eye contact, touch and contact exchange stay optional.
  • Explain privacy honestly: ask people to keep stories private, while recognising that group privacy cannot be guaranteed and public spaces can be overheard.
  • Explain the limits: hosts may need to share necessary information for serious safety or safeguarding concerns or local reporting duties, explaining where safe.
  • Use the verified local response plan if a concern arises. One host supports the person while the other maintains group oversight; do not manage a serious concern alone.
  • Do not photograph or record the session. Participants keep their own reflection sheets; concerns have separate, secure records and a named follow-up owner.

Adapt the setting. Keep the practice.

Choose the local language, day, route or room. Offer walking, wheeling or seated participation while retaining participant choice, the listening lesson, equal optional turns, the local response plan and a complete close.

Start with a four-session pilot and review each meeting with your co-host. Before expanding, review access, participant feedback, concerns and host workload. Keep personal stories out of routine reviews.

Keep Sawubona and L2M Coaching attribution and the version details with any adapted materials. The pack does not grant practitioner, trainer, franchise or organisational accreditation.

Your host resource kit

Download. Prepare. Connect.

Read the handbook first, complete the relevant sheets in the printable pack, then use the visual cheat sheet during the session. These resources work together.

PDF · 19 pages

Host handbook

Start here for the operating standard, host preparation, scripts and six listening lessons.

Download PDF: Host handbook

L2M Coaching · Pilot edition 1.0 · October 2026. Programme enquiries: info@l2mcoaching.com. This inbox is for programme enquiries and is not an emergency response route.

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