The Power of Community: Potluck Celebrations
28 Feb 2015 | Mirella Ferraz, Network of Wellbeing
As the well-known saying goes, "sharing is caring", and, in
fact, social scientists have now shown that giving can be a powerful way to improve
happiness, and that social connections are central to our
wellbeing. Appreciating the importance of offering people
opportunities for sharing and connecting, the Network
of Wellbeing (NOW) has been running regular Community Potluck
events in the town of Totnes (in Devon, UK) for over a year
now.
These regular Potluck events started after the NOW team had many
interesting conversations with members of the local community in
Totnes, about the value of open community events for bringing
people together. The idea that emerged was simple: to host a shared
meal, for which everyone brings a contribution, and to extend an
open invitation to the whole community.
For the first Community Potluck, we hired a community hall,
promoted the event, and then on the day we put some decorations up,
created a children's area (with toys, scrap paper and colourful
pens), and waited in anticipation and excitement. That night over
70 people came along, and shared a beautiful feast and a lovely
atmosphere. Many new connections were made, and people
spontaneously shared their views on happiness and wellbeing through
connecting at the event.
The following month we ran the Community Potluck event again -
and this time over 100 people came along. We heard from many people
that the act of sharing a meal in an informal and friendly
environment provided a very positive experience, so we decided to
make it a regular event.
NOW currently hosts a Community Potluck every third Friday of
the month in Totnes. We have a growing team of enthusiastic and
supportive volunteers who help to make the event an open and
welcoming occasion. It has been fantastic to see how this event has
developed over time, welcoming new people to attend and help
out.
Through these types of Potluck events, we particularly encourage
reaching out to those who feel isolated, and it is inspiring to see
the diversity and sense of community belonging and participation
that the events bring. Some research suggests that intergenerational contact can be very effective in
combating loneliness, so we aim to ensure everyone - young and
not so young! - feels welcome to join in the Potluck fun.
Based on these positive experiences, we would like to encourage
other communities to host similar events in order to strengthen new
and already existing relationships. We have recently created these
Community Potluck Guidelines to share our
experiences of running these events, and to advise on setting up
similar initiatives. We hope that these guidelines inspire others
to bring their own community together to share and connect with
each other.
On 20th March it will be the International
Day of Happiness, and as part of our celebrations we will be
running a special Community Potluck event, which will include
sharing of music and poetry, as well as the usual delicious food
and friendly conversations. You can check out further information
about this event here, and for those outside Totnes you can
always take a look at our guidelines and consider running your own
event.
Based on our experience of running Community Potlucks so far,
we've learnt that apart from being a great fun, organising these
types of events can be very rewarding due to the power of bringing
different members of the community together to connect and share
with each other.
You are very welcome to get in touch with any comments, feedback,
questions or details of your own Potlucks via info@networkofwellbeing.org. Happy sharing,
everyone!
