What on earth is a Huddle and why should I do one?

Kate clapping other Huddlers at our annual HuddleCamp event in Devon

Hi I’m Kate! I am running Turning Points, which is a Huddle taking place in Exeter, Devon.

What on earth is a Huddle? I hear you ask. A Huddle is a community of learning, a web of connections, a space of personal growth: where 10 to 12 people come together for a few months to go on an individual and a collective learning adventure.

How does it work?

A really cool part of a Huddle is that each person taking part chooses a personal learning question that they want to follow for six months. Essentially, the learning question is a topic or a theme or something that you are hungry to explore; something you want to dedicate time and space to — we support you to encapsulate that into a question that you follow for the 4.5 month journey. (If this has already peaked your interest — have a play with possible questions here). But what’s really cool is that you’ve then got a group of people, each of them exploring something slightly different and on their own individual path. But collectively, we’re going on a shared learning experience and we’re using the support and the accountability of the group to really channel the momentum of that learning. The theme of this Huddle is Turning Points — so everyone’s questions will be linked to a specific and unique turning point that that person is in.

So…is this kind of like a training programme?

Well…yes and no. Yes in that you learn skills and grow personally and professionally. No in that there is no one teacher, and we co-design the curriculum together, based on our learning questions. I’d say part of the magic of this is that it is so different to traditional education and learning. In fact, Huddles are often popular for people who don’t really jam with traditional education or who don’t really like the vibe of some of the more institutionalised learning environments. Huddles are powered by the people themselves, and the wisdom, knowledge and life experience we are bringing to one another. It’s the most kind of magical way to grow in ways you might not envisage, but also to really get some stuff done!

Two people walking on Dartmoor. We’ll build nature into this Huddle wherever we can!

Why Turning Points?

I think really the intention for running and hosting this Huddle in Exeter is quite a personal one. I’m really creating what I need, what I long for. I am at a real turning point: I’ve moved back to Exeter after being away for 15 years…and moving as an adult is really hard. It’s hard to know where to find people I connect with, it’s hard to build real community. And yet I know that is essential for me building a life here. It’s essential in this weird post pandemic world, in this world of remote working and Zoom and default-jogging-bottom-wearing… connection to people in real life, where we live, feels so integral. It feels important to have that to not just survive but to thrive. And of course, we’re all at different turning points all the time. This Huddle is attracting people who are changing jobs, exploring their identities, figuring out who they are as parents, starting businesses.

So as well as a personal thread, there is also a professional thread here — what I do for work is facilitate, I convene, I host…nearly all of my work is about bringing people together around learning and connection. I do a lot of work around community building, in charities and in the public sector. And so I guess in some ways, this is an extension of that, but this is a much more personal incentive.

A group of previous Huddle participants stand together.

Who is this for?

It’s for people who find themselves at a turning point or moment of transition: you’re looking for soulful inspiration to help you figure out what come’s next.

It’s for people in Devon who are longing for connection and community.

It’s for people looking for support & accountability to help make a meaningful change.

…And it’s also for people who just love the sound of doing learning in a peer to peer way which is so different to so many traditional models of education.

A group of people stand in a circle on a grass lawn.

OK so give me the deets.

The Huddle runs over 4.5 months, from October to February, and we kick off early 30th September with a weekend which is all about relationship building and setting the foundations for the programme. We then meet up fortnightly on a Tuesday evening somewhere central in Exeter. Each of those meetups are run by a different member of the group. So there’s this really cool energy around each person hosting a different meetup, which means you get this wonderful window into different people’s skills and knowledge and experience and we all get to benefit from that. You don’t need to be an expert at this! There’s heaps of support and options of how to do this. And then we finish the process at the end of the with a showcase: this is really about celebrating the learning that we’ve done together and we invite friends and family along to that to let them into this kind of magical world we’ve been creating for the past few months.

The final deadline to apply is 15th September.

Learn more and apply here.

Join us and reignite a spark of curiosity.

A group of people around a fire, each holding a candle.