Play with Purpose

Celebrating local communities through creativity

The Community Brain are a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to bringing people and communities together to enjoy their local space and engage with those within it.
We spoke with Dr Robin Hutchinson MBE, Director of TCB, about how their projects and events are re-igniting the local area and empowering individuals with their inclusive, ‘everyone and anyone is welcome’ approach.

Passion for people

“Everybody is brilliant if they’re given the help and support to be brilliant,” says Robin explaining the principle behind TCB. “It all started with what we categorise as ‘playgrounds for adults’, making events and spaces that allow people to reconnect and recharge. We wanted people to smile”.

Location, location, location

“We discovered that when you asked people what they like about Surbiton, they’d say, ‘Oh it’s great, only 16 minutes from London, only 16 minutes from the countryside…’ and it struck us that if someone describes where they live by the speed you can leave it, there’s something a bit odd there!” Events such as the popular Seething Festival, Surbiton Ski Sunday and the most recent (and hugely successful) Mini Cooper Procession have all been key to bringing people together and making connections in a space they feel at home.

Supporting those in crisis

TCB not only want to bring joy and play to the community, but provide practical help to those who need it. “Due to Covid, the cost of living, food poverty, there are many communities unsupported. Some of our work is now diverted to how we can support community fridges, offer cooking facilities, and teach cookery, not only to locals but refugees with no access to these facilities.”

Who can get involved?

“Anyone who feels they want to play, or belong somewhere. We’re involved with Kingston College and the Uni, so we have lots of young and mature volunteers who work side by side and that’s so important. That’s what a community should look like.”

Rewilding Tolworth Court Farm

One of the next projects in motion for TCB is the rewilding project of the largest nature reserve in the borough. Working with Kingston Council and Citizen Zoo, the plans are to introduce a small number of free roaming livestock to the area to encourage the natural regeneration of trees and shrubs. “The idea is to respect it as a place of nature but allow people to be a part of that nature” says Robin.

For more info about TCB upcoming projects and how you could be involved email contact@thecommunitybrain.org or follow on Instagram @communitybrain