On that very first Fun Palaces weekend in 2014, no one quite knew what was going to come out of it; the invitation was to make a Fun Palace to celebrate Joan Littlewood’s centenary – it was decided that Fun Palaces would be Free, Local, Innovative, Transformative and Engaging events, made by communities for their community. People went away, made Fun Palaces and then told Stella and Sarah-Jane (the founders and co-directors) and the original HQ team what happened. And, as it happened, a whole load of incredible things came out of that weekend, so much so that it kickstarted the ongoing campaign, and here we are eleven years later gearing up for the 12th Fun Palaces weekend.
I hold onto that ethos of the ‘not knowing’ – that even as a past Maker myself, I know what my community’s Fun Palaces were and did and transformed, but I don’t know what other people’s Fun Palaces are to them and their community until they share their experience. Fun Palaces evolve constantly, and I do believe there are as many ways to Fun Palace as there are people in the world. Part of what we do at Fun Palaces Support Hub is to listen, and capture and share as much of that brilliance, fun and transformation as we can, and shout about it.
So what does happen after the weekend? Well, after the weekend we send out a ‘six-months later’ survey, to find out if people’s Fun Palaces led to anything after the weekend. And the answer, time and time over, is ‘YES’, the weekend led to more things happening – over 5 years 85% Makers reported that something else came out of their Fun Palace.
So what do Fun Palaces lead to?
Communities accessing funding and generating income
“We are now applying for funding for a full week residency to continue the theme of our Fun Palace.”
“We now continue to meet every 6 to 8 weeks, are becoming established in the community, have made new friends, everyone has improved their skills, some people have started selling handmade goods, people in the community are talking about it, we made a public display at Christmas and plan another display for November.”
“I met people I hadn’t previously worked with and went on to get some funding for a new project with them.”
New and strengthened relationships and partnerships
“I gained relationships with new and old neighbours, also with the venue and the staff.”
“It reinforces our connection with both partners and our local communities. New connections get made for sure. Not just us as organisers but for folk who are providing activities as well.”
“I made contact with and met a lot of people from local statutory and voluntary organisations and used 3 local venues I’d not used before. A regular network meeting of groups and organisations has been established, a lot of whom were involved in the Fun Palace.”
“We made new partnerships with organisations we didn’t have a previous relationship with.”
Continued, regular collaboration
“…new people just passing by got involved with the day and have remained involved with our programmes.”
“New connections in the community, people and places. Participants started their own regular meet ups to chat and work on ‘unfinished personal craft projects’.”
“…the Fun Palace provided a springboard for more community action in collaboration going forward.”
Confidence, skills and learning
“It has given me confidence and faith that I can organise and run events such as this and look forward to the coming years.”
“Gained confidence in my ideas and initiative. Encouraged me to continue working to build community for learning.”
“It’s more of a personal change. I’m looking at smaller and more sustainable as a theme in all things.”
“I’ve been included in other aspects of village life.”
New programmes of community events
“There are now more free activities in the library following the Fun Palace.”
“A group has been set up that goes walking regularly.”
“We are now running a regular craft club on a Saturday.”
If you want to start a Fun Palace in your community, you can. No experience needed (we can help). It can be tiny, or a bit bigger. Sign up here.
