Dear Salisbury Centre Community,

Having handed over my role as Community Development Lead to the wonderful Marta Brzosko, I reflect on what an empowering and inspiring journey I have had with the Salisbury Centre. On my first visit in the summer of 2019 I felt so strongly that this is the community I was looking for, and by the autumn I was being mentored and supported by Virginia (the then-manager) to set up a Women’s Circle and an Artist’s Way group as part of the community programme. I was amazed to find such a thriving community space in the city with its arms wide open, where I could be supported to try out my ideas and be part of something bigger.

Since then I have come full circle and had the privilege to support others on their journeys with the Centre, developing and offering their gifts in this community. To me, the Salisbury Centre is a circle of giving, welcome and encouragement, and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to give and to receive so much as part of this ever-growing, reciprocal family of care.

There will be another goodbye coming from me in the next couple of months when I move on as a resident, (having lived at the Salisbury Centre for nearly 5 years now!), but for now, here is a wee photo of me picking nettles in the garden during lockdown, to make this delicious curry which is still kicking about on our blog!

Susannah Phillipson