Platforms for social support

[Luke Price]

We are currently undertaking a small research project at Community Links looking at 'platforms' (these can be events, spaces, organisations etc.) that encourage the conditions for care and support without being explicitly aimed at such an outcome.

A good example of this could be the school gates: parents meet each other, form relationships and then might be mutually supportive without ever having had that purpose in mind originally - they go there because they need to drop off or pick up their kids.

The project is also about the informal/unstructured nature of social interactions - e.g. a befriending scheme is not only explicitly aimed at social support, but often has formal organisational structures and so, whilst often useful for those experiencing loneliness, not within the scope of this research.

We are currently trying to draw up a list of platforms to do some fieldwork with. This will involve a short interview with someone who engages with it regularly and then potentially a half day field visit to explore ideas in a bit more detail. Some key characteristics that the platforms are likely to share based on a literature review are.

The list currently includes:

• Marketplaces
• Allotments/community gardens
• Time-banks
• Community cafés
• Community pubs
• Religious spaces
• Hobby clubs of any kind
• Sports clubs of any kind
• School gates (or perhaps a children's centre as I imagine gaining access to a school gate could be a little bit problematic)

We would be really interested in hearing any suggestions for specific instances of the above, or even for other schemes that you think might fit the above criteria. It has a national scope so feel free to suggest examples anywhere in the country.

[Rosie Farrer]

Luke, I'm sure this list could be huge, local newsagents, bus stops, post offices, litter picks/community clean up days, leisure centres, all spring to mind. We have lots of these types of groups in the Spice network all over the place from Chorley to Cambridgshire to Carmarthenshire so let us know if you'd like to do some fieldwork with any of them and if you are after any particular ones and we'll see if we can match you up (get in touch [e-mail])