Gathering at Bore Place: Deepening the Mycelial Network

On the 12th May, members of the Mycelial Network gathered at Bore Place for the third time since the network first began to take shape. While still relatively early in our journey together, there was a palpable sense that something meaningful is slowly rooting itself across the network. Not fast growth, but connected growth. Growth that values depth over scale, relationship over extraction, and the careful weaving together of people, practices and possibilities over time.

Across the gathering, there was a growing recognition that the strength of the network lies not only in what is being built, but in the quality of connection being cultivated between us as we build it, a gentle but intentional momentum emerging through shared practice, collective imagination and trust.

The gathering offered an opportunity to slow down together and spend dedicated time exploring the missions that have been seeded across the network.

Through conversations, workshops, reflections and moments of pause, the gathering created space for the different missions across the network to share where things are beginning to take shape in real and tangible ways. While much of the work happens across different places, organisations and communities throughout the year, coming together at Bore Place offered an important moment for connection, exchange and collective reflection.

The nature of the network means that people are often deeply immersed in their own strands of work, so gatherings like this become an opportunity to reconnect to the wider ecosystem, to hear what is emerging across the network, share challenges and learning, and collectively sense where energy, momentum and possibility are building.

In many ways, the gathering acted as a kind of pulse point for the network, a moment to pause together, listen closely, and better understand what is moving through the collective body of work we are building together.

Across the gathering, one theme that continued to emerge was the importance of connection, not simply as a nice addition to strategic work, but as the foundation of it. Much like mycelial networks in nature, the strength of this work is not held solely in individual projects or organisations, but in the relationships between them. The unseen threads. The trust built over time. The willingness to share resources, knowledge, challenges and possibilities with one another.

As the network continues to grow, we found ourselves sitting with important questions:

What speed should growth happen at in order to maintain depth of connection?

How do we continue to nurture intimacy, trust and accountability as more people enter the network?

What does it mean to build in a way that refuses extraction and instead prioritises interdependence?

The gathering itself was intentionally designed to create opportunities for connection beyond formal discussions and workshops. Through shared activities, collective cooking, creative exercises and moments of joyful chaos, we were reminded that networks are not only built through strategy, but through experience, relationship and learning how to move alongside one another in practice.

One moment that captured this beautifully was a “Ready Steady Cook” style activity introduced by Bethan from Make Space. Participants were split into teams and challenged to create a dish using a selection of real ingredients provided on the day. It was something Bethan herself had not formally taught before, but had previously experienced and wanted to offer into the space.

In many ways, this also reflected part of the spirit of the gathering: creating opportunities for people to contribute without the pressure of expertise or perfection, and trusting that knowledge, creativity and participation can emerge through shared experience.

With limited time, no fixed plan and only the ingredients available in front of us, teams had to quickly organise, improvise and respond collectively in real time.

What initially felt slightly chaotic – tables overflowing with ingredients, overlapping ideas, people figuring out who was doing what – slowly transformed into something deeply collaborative. Small self-organising nodes naturally began to emerge. People checked in with one another, shared ingredients, adapted plans and supported where needed:

“Can I borrow some onion?”

“Do you already have oil?”

“We’ve chopped too much of this if anyone needs some.”

Out of uncertainty came abundance. Out of messiness came coordination, generosity and care. It became a live demonstration of how networks function, not through rigid control or everyone having the full picture, but through responsiveness, trust, resource sharing and collective attentiveness.

These moments rippled throughout the gathering. During a drumming workshop, participants had to deeply listen to rhythm, call and response, often looking to one another when they lost their place or needed help finding the beat again. There was something quietly powerful in witnessing people orient towards each other rather than away from one another in moments of uncertainty.

It felt like a gentle reminder that this is also how a network works. Not through everyone moving perfectly in sync at all times, but through listening, adapting, supporting and finding rhythm together as we go.

Alongside these moments of connection and experimentation, there was also space for deeper reflection around our anti-oppression journey and how it must continue to live within the fabric of the network itself. 

In exploring the role community assets can play during times of division and uncertainty, Edward Whitelaw (Director, Real Ideas) reflected:

"While some will seek to exploit the hardships of one group, turning it into hatred of another, community assets fundamentally seek to relieve oppression, bringing nutrients to where they are needed."

Conversations explored how anti-oppressive practice cannot sit separately from our missions or ways of organising, but instead needs to be continually woven through the relationships, structures and decisions that shape the work.

There was also a growing recognition throughout the gathering that physically coming together matters deeply. In a time where much organising happens remotely and under increasing pressure, creating intentional spaces to pause, reflect, share meals, make together and simply be alongside one another feels increasingly vital. These gatherings are not separate from the work, they are part of how the work happens.

Throughout Bore Place there were moments of strategic thinking, moments of uncertainty, 

moments of laughter, improvisation and collective care. Moments where people stepped forward to contribute something not fully formed. Moments where others listened closely, adapted, shared resources or helped each other find rhythm again.

Perhaps this is part of what the Mycelial Network is continuing to learn together: that networks are not built through perfection or constant alignment, but through the ongoing practice of connection. Through trust. Through responsiveness. Through making space for different forms of contribution to emerge over time.

As we left Bore Place, there was a shared sense that something important continues to unfold across the network, slowly, relationally and with care. Not simply building projects alongside one another, but building the conditions for deeper collective resilience, solidarity and possibility to take root.