Some day-to-day results of 'Cultural Engagement' Research with Roaming Penzance.

Finding the balance between providing activities and listening to people sharing life values that arise from personal experiences of day-to-day life.

Sharing meals, which sometimes begin with a spontaneous thanksgiving for the food from one of the many formal or eclectic faiths we represent.

Wondering if it is possible to bake a loaf of bread on a campfire and being offered several tried and tested methods as well as advice on hunting and foraging for wild food.

Being given runner bean seed for my allotment and leeks for lunch by someone who doesn’t have a house and is helping work another person’s plot.

Taking time to develop ideas, ground rules, boundaries and relationships of equality.

Finding that the more trust we develop as a group the more powerful we feel as individuals and the more assertive we are about issues of privacy, which impacts on our documentation of the project.

Realising our need to partner other groups without losing our identity in the process.

Deciding to become independent of other charities to allow us more flexibility in decisions about our values and ethos as well as fundraising.

Acquiring new skills in setting up a Community Interest Company, applying for a business bank account and looking for appropriate insurance cover.

Choosing to use free software for the Roaming website that can then be recommended to others who may wish to create their own web-based profiles.

Keeping a journal in order to remember smaller details that tend to become significant parts of the process in retrospect.