Overheard at the Tate Liverpool, April 2017

Librarian: Hello, I am speaking to people about different ways people can get involved in design projects.

Participant: I’m not interested in design.

Librarian: Well, what do you like doing in your spare time?

Participant: I have 3 kids and I’m a governor of their school - I don’t have any spare time! It’s hard work, but the school is great and gets really involved with our community.

Librarian: What is the best thing about your community?

Participant: The area I live in has a lot of families, it can be hard though, we feel neglected. They are speaking about closing the park next to the school, they say we don’t use it enough, but I’m going through most days.

Librarian: That’s really frustrating. Parks and green spaces are under threat at the moment with councils struggling to maintain them due to funding cuts. One way you could get involved is creating a “Friends of” group for the Park. Here is an example of a “Friends of” group in Manchester. They were campaigning to retain a public right of way in the city centre. They made badges and wrote songs to raise awareness that the walkway was under threat! You know, there is a group in Liverpool who run design classes for children in school - maybe they could come to the school and discuss the importance of the park to the area.

Participant: Do you have a contact for the group? I could take that back to the school.