November – RESPECT

Prompt of the Month: Reflect on one value you inherited and still hold dear.

There is a particular kind of comfort in knowing that someone is really listening and not simply waiting for their turn to speak. Offering opinions or advice before we have finished, or deciding what our experience means before hearing the whole story. Just listening, with genuine interest and without judgement.

It sounds simple, yet being heard and understood can make an enormous difference to how we feel about ourselves and our place in the world. This November, our SBS wellbeing calendar turns to RESPECT, with a thought that invites us to look both backwards and towards one another:

Respect begins with listening – to our roots, our stories, and each other. Honouring difference is how we stay connected to what we share.

After October’s invitation to slow down, find our footing and listen to our own needs, November takes that awareness a little further. How do we extend the same consideration to others? And which values, passed down through the people and communities that shaped us, still guide the way we live today?

“To honor others is to honor ourselves, for we are shaped by every hand that touches us.”
~ Gottfried Keller, Swiss Author ~

What We Carry With Us

Much of what we value was learned long before we could explain it. Perhaps we grew up in a household where keeping your word mattered above everything else. Where neighbours looked out for one another, where helping was simply expected, or where sitting down together for a meal was an important part of family life. Often, we only begin to recognise these things as values when our circumstances change.

For Swiss nationals living in the UK, that recognition can be particularly strong. Moving between countries, languages and cultures gives us new perspectives on the habits we once took for granted. We may hold certain traditions closer, adopt different ways of doing things, or find ourselves reconsidering beliefs we have carried since childhood. And there is something healthy in that. Respecting our roots does not mean we must preserve every custom exactly as it was. It means taking the time to understand what mattered beneath it.

Was the family meal really about the food, or about making time for one another? Was a parent’s insistence on doing things properly about rules, or about taking pride in our responsibilities? Was the neighbour who always offered help teaching us generosity without ever naming it? Sometimes, the most meaningful part of our heritage is not a tradition we can photograph or a story we can retell, but a value that continues to shape our choices.

Living Well includes recognising what has shaped us, appreciating what still serves us, and allowing ourselves to grow beyond what no longer does.

Respect, Dignity and the Courage to Ask for Help

Respect becomes especially important when life does not go to plan.

We all like to think of ourselves as capable and independent. Yet illness, bereavement, financial pressure, family difficulties or simply growing older can change what we are able to manage alone. Finding ourselves in need of support can be uncomfortable, particularly when we have spent much of our lives being the person others turn to. We may hesitate to ask because we fear being judged, becoming a burden or losing some of our independence. This is where respect becomes more than a social courtesy.

Our approach to Living Well at the Swiss Benevolent Society is rooted in the belief that people deserve to feel heard, understood and treated with dignity, whatever their circumstances. For our Welfare Office, listening is not merely a preliminary step before offering practical assistance. It helps us understand the person behind the difficulty: what matters to them, what they have already tried and what kind of support would genuinely help.

At times that can mean working through an administrative problem, or exploring financial assistance, identifying appropriate services or simply having a conversation about a difficult situation. The aim is not to take over somebody’s life, but to help them regain confidence, make informed choices and maintain as much independence as possible.

Needing help does not make someone less capable or less deserving of respect. Nor does offering help give us the right to decide what another person should want.

That principle matters in professional welfare work, but it matters just as much in our everyday relationships.

Respect Begins with Being Heard – A Thought from Lily, Our Welfare Officer

Working in welfare and as a counsellor has taught me that we all have circumstances, and that each of us has a story that deserves to be heard.

Sometimes, people approach us after spending a long time trying to manage things independently. Asking for help is not always easy, particularly when someone has spent much of their life looking after others or taking pride in being self-reliant. I am often reminded that meaningful support does not necessarily begin with having all the answers. It begins with listening, understanding what matters to the individual and recognising that they are the best person to explain their own experience.

Respect also means recognising people’s strengths, not simply focusing on the difficulties they are facing. It means working alongside someone, rather than making decisions for them, and finding ways to support their independence, dignity and sense of control.

For me, this is at the heart of welfare work. It is about seeing the person, not just the problem, and remembering that everyone deserves to feel valued, whatever their circumstances. Perhaps this is something we can all take into our everyday lives: to listen a little more carefully, make fewer assumptions and give others the space to be themselves.

The Everyday Practice of Listening

As World Kindness Day approaches on 13 November, it offers a useful opportunity to think about the relationship between kindness and respect. We can be kind by doing something for another person. Respect sometimes asks us to do something more difficult: to pause long enough to understand what that person actually needs.

An older relative may appreciate being asked for their opinion rather than having decisions made for them. A friend going through a difficult time may need company rather than solutions. Someone with a different cultural background may simply want us to be curious rather than make assumptions. And once in a while, the most respectful thing we can do is allow another person to disagree with us without making them feel unwelcome.

These moments call for patience, openness and attention.

Attention, however, is becoming something we increasingly have to make room for. Between messages, notifications and the constant flow of information, it is easy to be physically present while our minds are elsewhere.

Where to Find Connection – Our SBS Community Event

That is one reason our upcoming event Disconnect to Reconnect event feels especially relevant to November’s theme. On Saturday 21 November 2026, SBS hosts this Digital Wellbeing Afternoon, run with My Resilient Mind.

This afternoon will give you expert guidance, good company, refreshments, and tools you can take home. Through a practical wellbeing workshop, guided mindfulness and relaxed community conversation, we will explore how to create a healthier relationship with technology. Together we will find ways to give more attention to ourselves and the people around us. It is also an opportunity to enjoy a few hours of genuine connection in welcoming company.

Saturday 21 November 2026, from 1pm to 4pm at the Swiss Church London – Ticket £10 p.P.

More gatherings in our Tea, Coffee & Good Company series are in preparation. We’re also working on bringing our events to those who can’t always travel to London. If you would like to be told when our first online gathering is happening, send us a message by email or on WhatsApp and we’ll make sure you hear about it.

In the meantime, several other Swiss clubs and organisations run online get-togethers regularly; you’ll find many of them through the Swiss in the UK Facebook group, or by searching Eventbrite. We are putting real effort into making our events as inclusive as we can, and we always welcome your feedback on how we’re doing.

To hear about events first, join the SBS Community Events WhatsApp group. If you have specific accessibility requirements for any SBS event, or would like to let us know in advance that you will need assistance, please email us at community@swissbenevolent.org.uk and we will make sure someone is ready to welcome you at the door.

A Practical November Experiment

This month’s prompt asks to reflect on one value you inherited and still hold dear.

Take a moment to think about somebody who has had a positive influence on your life. It might be a parent, grandparent, teacher, friend or somebody you encountered only briefly. What did they teach you through the way they lived? Perhaps they demonstrated patience when things went wrong. Perhaps they made people feel welcome, stood up for what was fair, or showed you that difficult circumstances could be faced with quiet determination.

Try to name just one value you learned from them. Then ask yourself: Where does that value appear in my life today?

You might decide to put it into practice by giving somebody your undivided attention, keeping a promise you have been postponing, reaching out to a relative or making time for a conversation that matters.

If the person who taught you that value is still in your life, consider telling them. We rarely know which of our small action’s others will remember. And if the value came from somebody no longer with us, living it can be a meaningful way of keeping their influence present.

Closing Reflection

Perhaps one of the most valuable things we can inherit is the ability to make other people feel that they matter. It is something we learn through experience, carry into our relationships and pass on through our own behaviour. For a community like ours, with members across generations, languages and different walks of life, respect is what allows those differences to become strengths rather than barriers.

It is also what makes genuine support possible. We can only understand somebody’s needs when we are willing to listen, and we can only offer meaningful help when we respect their right to shape their own future. As November unfolds, think about the people whose values have helped shape yours.

Choose one worth carrying forward. Then let somebody experience it through the way you treat them.

Because the values we inherit are most meaningful when they continue to make a difference in somebody else’s life.

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Join Our 2026 SBS Year of Steady Progress

This journey continues through our monthly blog, where each theme will come to life with practical insights, reflections, and coaching tools to help you stay steady through the year.

Accessing the Calendar

To ensure everyone in our community can take part, we have made the full PDF version of the SBS 2026 Wall Calendar available to download for free on our website.

👉 Download the PDF: SBS 2026 Calendar A4
👉 Request a hardcopy for the year 2027 once it’s out: info@swissbenevolent.org.uk

READ OUR OTHER BLOGS HERE:

• The Space We Make: A November Reflection on RESPECT
• Beneath the Noise: An October Reflection on GROUND
• Disconnect to Reconnect: A Digital Wellbeing Afternoon in London
• Given Away, Not Gone: A September Reflection on Share
• Where the Forest Begins: An August Reflection on Unite

About the Swiss Benevolent Society

The Swiss Benevolent Society exists to support Swiss nationals in the UK through times of change, challenge, and transition. Our work is grounded in dignity, compassion, and the belief in self-reliance — offering practical help while empowering individuals and families to regain stability and confidence. If you or someone you know may need support, you can learn more about how we help and how to get in touch through our Welfare Office. If you share our values and would like to be part of our community, we welcome you to become a member and stay connected with our work. And if you are able, donations — of any size — help us continue providing vital assistance; every contribution goes directly back into our welfare programmes.

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