Roaming On

Event Description

Come and join us for an evening of video screenings, live music making and artwork as we celebrate more than 10 years of the wonder and adventure of the community interest company, Roaming.

Even before Roaming became a company in 2013, there were a few people with a shared interest in making, talking and eating together each week who came together at the Breadline cafe in Penzance.  One of them was Laura Wild.  She had just completed a research degree and had been thinking long and hard about things people do — together — every day and how they might matter:

Taking time for the day-to-day reveals a quiet place within oneself where tiny glimmers of inspiration and wonder can emerge which, added one to another, become vital nourishment for the future of humanity.

She saw sparks of inspiration in the weekly meetings at Breadline, and set out to nurture them, to “grow” a community, in a sense, a space where an overlapping of culture can allow individuals to develop freely and fully, appreciating one another’s differences without competition.

The group did grow — especially in its range of activities. Keeping its base in Penzance, it established interests in a local allotment as well as at Millenium Woods,  Morrab Bandstand, Redwing Gallery, Penlee Coach House and very firmly at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, all of which have supported Roaming’s delight in momentary observations and brief encounters. They tend to occur when taking time, moving slowly. Roaming is never hurried or predictable.

Steered by its members’ interests, Roaming has hosted visiting artists, musicians, and foragers alike. Over the years, members have made short films, improvised music, grown vegetables, cooked, drawn, painted and performed. There have been open days, residencies and exhibitions of paintings and drawings. Most recently, a pilot project has welcomed new members to the group. Roaming has grown into a community with a life of its own, a shape, a past, a kind of pulse.  In some sense, it’s grown up.

Now it’s time for Roaming to move into a different framework.  After December of this year, Laura, Nancy, Jane and Janet – the Roaming CIC team, plan to step aside. The group — no longer a company — will continue to meet and grow in a new iteration at Breadline and be supported into the future by St Petrocs. Come and celebrate both longevity and change, as we move into a new chapter of Roaming on…

With thanks to our partners – St.Petrocs, all our funders – currently the National Lottery Community Fund and to those who’ve generously provided us with facilities, as well as everyone who has supported Roaming over the last 10 years, we cordially invite you to celebrate with us, and then roam on.