“My daughter and I were out in the park one weekend, just hanging out together. It was a gorgeous day and we noticed across the park there was a big group of people of all ages gathered. The kids were playing some kind of game and there was food, it just looked like a good time. So we decided to wander over and find out what was happening. To get there, we had to cross a grassy pitch and in the middle it was a bit muddy. We underestimated the challenge entirely, and both of us slipped and fell in the muck! We weren’t deterred though, we brushed ourselves off as best we could, and wandered over to the group. They made us feel welcome straight away. The mud probably helped, I think they felt sorry for us! Anyway, we joined in and both of us have been coming back to these gatherings once a month, ever since.”
Across the park
Questions
- In many cases, the life of a community happens behind closed doors. What are your communities’ opportunities to be visible?
- How is your building serving you? In what ways is it a sanctuary? In what ways is it a boundary that walls you off?
- Who might be deterred from coming to a new place, or walking into a new building for the first time?
- As a community, what are the things you’d hope to embody when you are gathered together, that might pique the curiosity of passers-by?
- When you are travelling somewhere new, what are some of the things that make it easier for you to find your way there, and to feel at home when you arrive?
