At the end of 2024, Live and Move commissioned local organisation, Interwoven Productions, to support a residential area within one of our priority communities in Exeter. Hamlin Gardens had been identified as an area that hadn’t previously benefitted from much community development and reported low participation rates.
Interwoven use their own Quiet Voice Methodology to enable those who might not normally contribute to community development projects to have more of a say in what they’d like to see where they live.
They identified three stages to the project:
- Delivery of an Introduction to Quiet Voice Methodology to Live and Move staff and those working in community development across Exeter
- Engaging and building a ‘pod’ of ‘quiet voice’ residents in Hamlin Gardens, and then working with the pod to make a plan for activities and events for the neighbourhood
- Delivery and support of those events, and transfer ownership to the pod to ensure ongoing sustainability.
From benches, bike storage and community gardening, to kite making and a family fun day – once this group of residents got going there was no stopping them.
At the end of last year, the Interwoven team sent us report detailing all the great things that the pod managed and delivered in Hamlin Gardens. We were so pleased so see so many quiet voices engaged in this work and are even more excited to see that the pod is continuing with gusto.
Find out more and read the full report on our website, here.