We used the community day as an three-fold opportunity to:
- engage local people into thinking about where they shop / eat locally, and gathering recommendations for good local business people would want to see included in a pocket guide
- see if there’s appetite for some sort of pocket guide
- talk to local businesses to learn more about local eating and growing in Fenham
We had a signpost that we recorded the different local businesses people said they enjoyed; we went around talking to the business owners and moving our signpost outside these shops and cafes. This was useful as we got feedback that a pocket guide would be welcomed, and might encourage more local business start ups once people notice gaps in the market (eg. a butchers and a deli were mentioned as missing).
Outside FAB Bakery 
Outside Northern Slice 
Outside Achellos 
In the Pocket Park: “What’s your favourite Local Business?”
We also had ‘feedback forms’ we used to invite people to share recommendations as well as allow them to tear off our website url and QR code leading to our open-source local business map of Fenham and surrounding areas.
Our next steps moving forwards are to:
- Create a sample pocket guide we can use to consult people on design, more recommendations, etc.
- Decide how the location and design of our physical, more permanent signposts might work.
UPDATE!
Following this intervention in March we curated this Fenham Pocket Guide, using the information residents had shared with us about their favourite places, and the open source map. We’ll distribute these to those who come along to our Fenham Parliament event in May!
What would you want to see in Volume 2?