Three simple ways to start your #CitizenFriday (plus a call tomorrow)
At ACTionism, we believe in creating the conditions for people to find the others and take action together. #CitizenFriday is the simplest and most joyful way to do this. Not a campaign, more a weekly ritual. A chance to be a bit more human.
Tomorrow -9.30am call- Plan your Citizen Friday gathering with The Miracle Inn #Citizen Friday call Friday 9 October
Join us for a #CitizenFriday Miracle Inn call next Friday to dive deeper into #CitizenFriday and start planning your own gathering. Friday 9 October, 9.30am (UK time), on Zoom . Join here
*The Miracle Inn is a space set up by Dr Morgan Phillips, for anyone feeling the weight of hyper-individualism, an ideology causing real personal, social and environmental harm. Regular no-agenda drop-in calls to find the others!
#CitizenFriday activity ideas to get you started
There are no rules, but we thought collating some of the ideas we're hearing for #CitizenFriday activities might inspire others from caring to action! Got an inspiring #CitizenFriday idea to share? Then add it to our Padlet board
Share - Wonder and walk
Emma at Thoughtful had a great idea for sharing: making #CitizenFriday part of a weekly Wonder Wander. Thoughtful is a charity that helps people discover the personal and public value of philosophical enquiry, and its Wonder Wanders bring people together to walk and talk, guided by philosophical questions. Emma is keen to use #CitizenFriday to spark conversations and reflections on what it means to be a citizen. We’re already dreaming up the best kind of questions: the ones with no right answer:
>What makes someone a good neighbour?
>Can you be a citizen of a place you’ve never been?
>What do we owe to people we’ll never meet?
>Is a community something you find, or something you make?
Repair - Plant bulbs together
Autumn is the perfect time to plant spring bulbs, so why not try this as part of your #CitizenFriday gathering. Rob Bowden shared that last week he tested this with a group of parents and teachers at a local school, planting bulbs around the school gates and in a shared green space. This not only helps repair the soil, but also helps repair relationships, giving parents and teachers (and any wider community who join in) a chance to get to know each other outside the usual pick-ups and parents’ evenings. Come spring, the flowers will remind you of what you started together.
Fresh air - Download the Merlin app
Love this idea from our very own Olivia. Why not make it a weekly challenge between you and your neighbour or colleagues to identify and learn the call of a new bird each week, then get together on Friday to share your best bird discovery!
Got an inspiring #CitizenFriday idea to share - please add it to our Padlet board - we're collating a huge list to add to the next issue of the ACTionism magazine to act as inspiration for anyone who wants some fun and accessible inspiration to help them get started with #CitizenFriday
#CitizenFriday gatherings emerging on the map this week
The latest pin in the #CitizenFriday map is for Polmont Community Hub in Falkirk, Scotland
Kenny and the community are using Citizen Friday for the launch date of their weekly Fresh Air Fridays, and the tool library's first repair cafe.
Kenny has been part of the international transition network for over 5 years, as well as a member of the Green Runners community and a few other environmental campaign groups such as SCCAN, Friends of the Earth, and Flight Free UK.
Polmont Community Hub was also the first community centre to screen the ACTionism film.
Thanks for always showing up, friends!
How to get involved this week
Try something tomorrow for #CitizenFriday - remember no grand gestures - share, repair, get some fresh air!
Sign up to host a gathering on Nov 27th. It only takes two to Citizen
Friday 9th Oct - 9.30 am GMT Join the Miracle Inn Citizen Friday call on Friday and meet others and start planning
Add your fun, inspiring, simple, downright amazing ideas for #CitizenFriday gathering activities to our collective Padlet board.
Know someone who could bring #CitizenFriday into their network or institution? Get in touch.
And spread the word. Please forward this to a friend who might need a nudge.
As always, I'd love to know what you're thinking, plotting and feeling, so do drop me a message - you can normally find me hanging around on LinkedIn
Tamasine (and Gav and Olivia)
#CitizenFriday is the day formerly known as Black Friday, reimagined as a ritual that celebrates connection, not commerce.
On Friday 27 November, ACTionism invites everyone who sees things differently to join in together: in fields, in homes, around tables, in workshops, on walks, or online. After that, it carries on as a weekly ritual. Not a campaign, just a small act each Friday. A chance to be a bit more human.
We think of it as share, repair or get some fresh air, but there really are no rules:
Repair – a jumper, a relationship, or even the soil by planting some bulbs.
Share – a tool, a skill, an hour, a lift, a meal, or some time making art together.
Get some fresh air – even if it's just ten minutes and a bit of a nosy at the sky, or a walk round the block.
