What Does Great Community Life Look and Feel Like?

Photo taken by Sam Frost at the Fete of Britain 2024 in Manchester

Recently, I've been exploring two questions that sit at the heart of my work:

What does great community life look and feel like?
How do we rebalance the relationship between communities and services?

These questions matter to me because I work with community groups, and I don't want to place myself in the expert position. I am part of the community and we are all human. I don't want to help people - I want it to be mutual and reciprocal. Independence and agency are great, but what if you don't want it? Who am I to say you should have it?

So I've been looking for ways to express these questions that highlight them as something we will do together, where there is no them and us.

When community felt alive...

When I think of great community life, I remember two organisations in particular.

The first was Spiral Dance. I think people got excited together there. It felt like there was nothing happening and then there was a lot happening. People felt very connected to what we were trying to do - to provide dance opportunities for all. I've still got my first action plan that I wrote in 2003. It's on two sides of A4 with a 6 month, 12 month and 2-5 year plan.

Besides providing dance opportunities for all - which was the main aim - we were going to use dance to explore social, cultural and environmental issues relevant to the community and develop dance audiences. Participation and performance was part of the plan. What I like about the plan is that it is so simple. And so clear.

What created the excitement was that I had people who supported me. I was supported by a great board and a great person within the local authority, I had to do the work. I was barely using a computer back then and I didn't have a smart phone. I remember going out everyday and talking to people, being with people. The first 6 months of the plan was about getting familiar with what was already happening - there are a list of people and job titles that I wanted to connect to. The whole plan is about building it with others.

The second half of the plan is more about milestones - things we might have achieved because of the first 6 months of connection. I remember that in the first 6 months of that job we hosted a community dance show with over 150 people in attendance. It was incredible. People were really open and looking for opportunity.

The second organisation where I felt like I was part of a great community was Designs in Mind. When the community was at its best for me was when nothing felt forced. We would all arrive across a 30 minute period of time. People would make drinks, sit, chat, someone would realise there wasn't enough milk, anyone could take the money out of the pot and go to the shop, someone might sweep the floor, some people already knew what they were working on that day so they could start, others wanted to wait for the morning meet at 10am.

The morning meeting was also wonderful. There was a board that had on it all the jobs that people could participate in... studio jobs, creative tasks, process and administrative tasks, business tasks. At the end of the meeting everyone would have the chance to say what they were going to do that day. Everyone knew their purpose and how it contributed to the running of the studio.

The shared lunches here were also a highlight - everyone bringing in one thing - this ranged from homemade hummus to a Greggs sausage roll - everything was welcome and it was a delight. Everyone's contribution mattered.

I also want to share an example from when I've been part of a community rather than leading one. A group I can remember feeling supported and belonging to was a group of parents I met when I first moved to Leicestershire. I was new, I didn't know anyone and I had a 2 year old. Through nursery I ended up meeting a great group of people - both the mums and the dads got to know one another and we would meet up often, with and without children. Whole families or in parts.

As a group of mums there was a whole year, before covid, where we had 'an organised night' when each person would host an evening, or suggest an activity and we would all share in it or do it together - I loved it. I got to do things I would never do - cook a samosa, talk about love languages... and I got to do things I loved - dance. It was also full of shared stories and experiences, maybe even some disagreements and discussions and loads of laughter.

Friends and Purpose...

It's probably friends and purpose - words from Maff Potts - that made these communities feel alive. It's also about trust - people would jump in to, or creep in to, things without knowing what might happen when they do. All these examples invited opportunity and people jumped in.

In terms of people knowing that their contribution mattered - I don't think this is about constantly thanking people, awards or hierarchy, people patting themselves on the back. This is about all coming together around a shared goal and recognising that you are part of it. Seeing and feeling that you are part of it. Really that feeling part is crucial, because that's what you need - to feel like you belong and you're worth it.

Rebalancing Relationships...

So how do we rebalance the relationship between communities and services?

I think it's about being listened to. I understand that there are services that are there to solve problems. If I want a job I want to go to a job centre and for someone to help me get a job. If I am ill I want a doctor to fix me. However sometimes what I see within services is a very narrow opportunity, one that I don’t fit in to. Or that there is opportunity but there are so many hurdles to jump through to get there. Or that when I get there I am actually invisible because there are more important things to do. It is about channelling yourself or presenting yourself in a particular way to meet an outcome or expectation that might still not be what is wanted.

I remember a health visitor coming to visit me once when I had just had my little one. I needed people - I was so emotional and I wanted people to help. There were lots of things I didn’t know about being a mum but I do know a lot about babies and their developing bodies and movement. I had no stair gate and no cot - I was planning for my little one to sleep on a mattress on the floor. What I didn’t need was to be met with judgement what I needed was to be met with openness and curiosity. 

I think it's about listening and remembering we are all human - we are all part of the community - so how do we do that? So we don't end up with "I'm the problem, you're the answer" but "let's do this together." I think play and letting go is part of the answer. 

SHOOP® as Practice...

An invitation in a SHOOP® workshop is short and it could be achieved in many ways. There is no skill, it is about Yes, And - so building on what came before, and it is positive to those doing it and anyone around. Each invitation the group of 3 or 4 will create, decide, make their SHOOP® happen together, when the groups mix up it might look and feel different.

It is about getting people to find and trust their inner drive, back one another up and take a leap all together. By the end of a workshop 96% of people will have done something they didn't think they could do. Because it's playful, the prompts are connected to the senses and the body, it creates a level playing field for everyone - everyone is unsure what will happen regardless of their role. Everyone gets to experience what letting go feels like - so this becomes the common ground from which they can work together in the future.

What Changes...

I hope that when approaching other relationships people listen more, they notice more, they are present. This changes their response and how decisions are made going forward. They may even SHOOP® with others. I hope they keep SHOOPING with each other because this is where the practice of letting go comes in - it is not something you do once and you can do that... it changes over time.

I have become, and others have told me the same, lighter - I am accepting of what I can control and what I can't. I have energy for the things that are difficult. I know my part, I know when I need others.

When the playing field is truly level - wow - I think that we would work differently. What does that look like? Open, compassionate, well people full of vitality who are curious and interested in things beyond themselves. Able to make decisions together and make things happen that we can’t even picture now. And it if doesn’t work, they won’t get grilled in the media - they will be respected for trying and then they will try again.

That's what great community life looks and feels like to me. And that's what we're practicing together, one SHOOP® at a time.