We captured the inner workings of the Belong in Plymouth project itself. Years of emails, meeting notes, reflections and updates were distilled into over 100 short blog posts.
Each post tells part of the story — the questions we asked, the lessons we learned, the things we got wrong and what we discovered along the way. Many include quotes from real exchanges between team members, making the behind-the-scenes work visible to anyone curious about how projects like this actually happen.
Journal
AI produced journal posts
Maximizing Filming Days Beyond Footage
On 13 June 2023, Karen reminded us of something special: our upcoming filming days weren’t just about cameras—they were about connection. “We have some interest from people in high places and low pla...
Filming to Share and Connect
In June 2023, we invited a filmmaker to capture some of the story of Belong in Plymouth—and to spark new conversations about what it really means to belong. Karen shared her excitement: “We have some...
Redesigning Community Research Together
What makes someone a ‘community researcher’? According to Belong in Plymouth, it’s not about qualifications—it’s about curiosity, care, and the confidence to hold space for others. In June 2023, Step...
Building a Network: Inside Our Neighborhood Pilot
What happens when you try to connect a neighbourhood without putting one person in charge? That’s exactly what Belong in Plymouth set out to explore with its one-year pilot in Stoke. Instead of a tra...
Adapting Community Researcher Training
In June 2023, Stephane and Martyn shared a new challenge: how do we keep our Community Researcher training relevant, ethical, and useful as the work evolves? “We feel our existing training sits somew...
From Ideas to Action: Many-to-Many
On June 3rd at the Village Hub, we gathered a small group of collaborators to ask a big question: What’s next for many-to-many? We didn’t come for consensus. We came to co-create next steps that felt...
Weekly Updates: A Quiet Game-Changer
In June 2023, Matilde floated an idea that seemed small at first: “As many of us have limited time, I thought… sharing weekly updates might be more accessible.” That simple suggestion turned into one...
Building Relational Work — Even When Messy
On 31 May 2023, Matt Bell dropped a message into our thread that captured the spirit of our journey: “Love this coming together. Just musing… and connecting.” We were juggling so many moving parts—st...
Rethinking Onboarding
Joining a big, multi-layered project like Belong in Plymouth can feel overwhelming—especially if you’re new. That’s why we’ve been reworking how we bring people in. As Stuart Jones said: “We often fo...
Rebalancing Power Through Trust
A key question we keep returning to is: how do we share power in a way that builds—not breaks—trust? That’s the heart of our many-to-many work. It’s not just about structures. It’s about relationship...
Rethinking Long-Term Funding and Partnerships
Funding conversations can feel dry—but they reveal everything about how power, trust, and long-term impact work. That’s why we’ve been having honest discussions with funders and local partners about ...
Designing Usable Governance Tools
Let’s be honest—governance tools aren’t always the most exciting part of a project. But what if they could be? In our many-to-many group, we’ve been designing and testing playful governance tools—car...