By Carine Osmont, Farnham Fun Palace Maker 

Alexandre and I attended the Fun Palaces catch-up in London on Thursday.

It was a fantastic evening and the overwhelming message was: Fun Palaces are open, friendly and engaging.

We met great and generous people, Makers and potential Makers, individuals & organisations who offered to put us in touch with other potential players. It was at once inspiring and comforting to see other interested parties willing to take a risk for a project they believe in.

We talked about how the Fun Palaces are changing/can change/will change education, society, communities. About the importance of being engaged, of being concerned. How the risk of failure and/or judgment becomes less prevalent as we become more confident. How those of us who are neither artists nor scientists become tinkerers, problem-solvers, artists and scientists in our own outside-the-box ways.

We shared our thinking. Which changed profoundly after making our first Fun Palace last year. That first year was so rewarding. It was the kick up the bum we needed to push ourselves to be more involved in our community, to be better people. We now look at the world with a Fun Palaces mindset, questioning and trying to fix things rather than waiting for things to change.

The campaign is growing and we’re growing up with it.

We are very grateful to the Fun Palaces HQ for the evening and hope the Makers we met will be in touch.

Carine