On Tuesday the 28 June The Community Learning Network held its end of year celebration at our Medway Campus, gathering practitioners and organisations from across Kent and Medway. Dan Chilcott from Resort Studios and Sarah Bottle from Thanet Libraries spoke on the topic of Collaborative Partnerships in Community Learning, drawing on their experience of working together in the Thanet area. One of their main projects involved a knitting group at Ramsgate Library, formed in response to a project to knit leaves for an installation in the Children’s section of Ramsgate Library.
Sarah and Dan spoke of the ways that participants learnt and shared skills through this group, and explained how groups of this kind can improve wellbeing, help to combat social isolation and create a strong sense of place and community for those involved. It was inspiring to hear how pooling resources and collaboration can help to achieve common objectives and support the local community in the process. In the increasing instability of recent times, the need to come together to support local communities through learning and other activities is clearly ever more important.
Dan also involved some of us in an experimental learning opportunity, which involved group finger knitting with the most amazing wool. The results can be seen below.
