Dear friends and family,

How do you build a community in the 21st Century?

It was this question that drew me to be part of the Oasis game in London last year.  Instigated by the soap company Lush, 30 of us led by 5 Brazilians poured onto a council estate to stir up some community spirit on the streets of Newham.

The aim of the game is to transform a disused space into a space that brings people together, and in the process, build a community from the bottom up.  And because it's a game, it's fun, collaborative and a great way to inspire people to action.
 
Wait a minute, I hear you ask, why would you want to build community in the first place?

For many reasons.  Being part of a community is sometimes a means of survival, and for everyone, it makes life more colourful and interesting.  Yet in our modern society, even talking to your neighbour is becoming more and more scarce.  For me, building community has become a passion and an ambition.

Having been blown away by the experience in Newham, I'm now off to Brazil to learn how to facilitate the game myself so I can take it to new places.

After a long application process, I've been selected along with 59 others from around the world, to be trained in this innovative form of community-building.

The next stage of the selection process is to find 5,500R$ (around £1,500) to contribute towards the cost of the training, and through raising the money, spread the word about the Oasis game and its potential. Support me here: 

A game to change the world