Bringing Belong in Plymouth to Life
In June 2023, the Belong in Plymouth team welcomed a filmmaker to capture stories from across the city. But this wasn’t just about documentation—it was about connection. Karen Pilkington explained th...
Journal
The Party June 2023
You could tell we were up for a party. Despite it being a baking hot evening, we crammed over 100 people together for food and relationship building. Young people and residents rubbed shoulders with p...
Building Cross-Sector Connections
Karen Pilkington said something that’s stuck with us: “Different parts of the system have different understandings of what it means to ‘speak with the community.’” It’s true—and it’s exactly why we’v...
Streamlining Collaboration: From Reviews to Strategic Flow
Back in June 2023, the Belong in Plymouth team held a bi-monthly Operations Update that revealed something important: while the work was full of energy, it lacked a clear space for strategic thinking....
Making Strategic Space, Not Just Meetings
One insight from our June 2023 Ops Update has stuck with us: we don’t have a strategic space. Karen said it simply: “We recognise we have reflective meetings (sprint review) and operational meetings…...
Recognizing the Importance of Internal Ops
In June 2023, we held one of our bi-monthly Operations Updates—and it quickly became clear that our internal structures needed just as much care as our community relationships. Karen summed it up per...
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...