
How do we work with, within and across communities?
03 Oct 24UNION 24, weekend 3 in County Durham! Sun, sea and caravans!
This weekend was planned in collaboration with participants from the North East – Katharine Goda, Kate Gorman, Mandy Barker and Joel Hague
In planning the weekend we looked back on participant questions, from weekend 1, to build our programme around…
Day 1
Friday started at Hartlepool Art Gallery with a pot luck dinner
Starting Activity – 4 Directions
In (internal landscape), Out (external events), Up (your values and beliefs), Down (what you are rooted in/nourishes you)
- How are you arriving in response to all 4 directions?
- Visual map on the Floor
Followed by Individual mapping and Sharing in small groups
After dinner we got together as a whole group to share ‘what’s on your plate?’ – What are you up to right now, inspired by, moved by? Including Summer Art Whispers project ran by participants.
Day 2
Saturday was a full day of activities starting with local visits in the morning to:
- Creative Youth Opportunities (CYO) at Park House
- Horden Heritage Centre
- Seascapes on Horden beach with Suzy O’Hara
Our afternoon session was at Arts Café @ Community House in Peterlee
We had an introduction from Graham Easterlow about East Durham Community Trust and after lunch we heard from local artists and activists during a Panel Discussion including:
- Chantal Herbert
- Jo Coates
- Helen Ward
- Sally McGee
- Corinne Kilvington (UNION 23 alumni)
Following the panel we gathered for table discussions responding to the talks and learning from this morning
Ideas for Discussion were:
What are the emerging themes from the day?
What questions do they connect with?
Are there new questions that emerge?
Are there any surprises?
The Crimdon Dene Holiday Park was perfect to round off our day with pizza making. It’s always precious when we get to spend social time together, relaxing from a busy day!
Day 3
Our final day was spent at Dalton Moor Farm, thank to Jenny for hosting us
We started the day with options of Somatic movement practice, Working visually or Journalling to help with processing any learning from the previous day.
Which led to further reflecting and feeding back in small groups in response to the theme “How do I work with, within and across Communities?” with prompts:
- What stuck with you from yesterday?
- How is it relevant to your own practice?
- What are you taking away with you?
The afternoon focus on self-reflective work with options led by UNION team and participants:
- Walk and Talk – in pairs
- Art activity
- Word Space / Quiet Space
Thank you to all our panelists and hosts for your generous sharing throughout the weekend!
Our next week is approaching fast! We’ll be heading to Bradford for weekend 4…
Photos by UNION 24 participant @wyszynski.karol