Some reasons why the founders of this programme got involved:

Jane Emmanuel - Why I got involved:

Despite living in Fulham for 8 years and working from home for the last 5, I know very few people locally and have virtually no contact with my neighbours. Being burgled and hearing of a spate of local burglaries frightened me. Graffiti and refuse issues in my immediate residential area concerned me and highlighted the lack of community engagement and spirit. Facilitating a coffee house challenge event enabled me to reach out and meet like minded local people and to discover the warmth of the local community.

Stefan Lubomirski de Vaux - Why I got involved:

I have lived in Fulham for 26 years and know several of my immediate neighbours, but am aware that many people come and go on a six monthly or yearly cycle and never get to know their neighbours and often only learn of useful shops and services just as they are leaving. As a local businessman, aware of the problems facing many businesses under pressure from rising rents, national chains, parking etc., etc. being involved in this initiative has enabled me to broaden my horizons, make new friends and help make this a better area to live in and work.

Cathy Robertson - Why I got involved:

I've been in Fulham for 8 years and about a year ago I volunteered to set up a Neighbourhood Watch programme for my street. With two teenage children and a recent spate of motor vehicle crime on the street I thought I should at least make the effort. The response from my street and surrounding area has been very positive to NHW so seeing the notice in Starbucks about the RSA/Starbucks Challenge, to think about community ideas that might make a difference and possibly receive funding to make the ideas happen, seemed to be a productive way to spend an evening. I also felt I should at least check it out as a NHW co-ordinator.

Surprisingly the idea we submitted received some funding so hopefully the Welcome Evenings and follow up mentoring scheme will be successful and people will feel more connected to each other and to the neighbourhood that they have just moved into.

I think Fulham's a great place to live, very vibrant on every level. That's why we chose to move here and raise our children, but like anything you have to make an effort to get something out. It will be interesting to see what happens with all of this...

In the December 2006 issue of the RSA Journal an article by Marcus Trower entitled “People Power” reported on this year’s Coffeehouse Challenge.

It’s fifth paragraph began:

"Ways to connect" – Jane Emmanuel, an executive coach and workshop facilitator from Fulham, south –west London, had already been considering ways to generate more community feeling in her corner of Britain when she first came across the initiative. With help from Stefan Lubomirski de Vaux, another RSA Fellow, Emmanuel organised a meeting at a Starbucks on the Fulham Road. The theme of the discussion was how to foster a positive sense of belonging in the area and the participants tackled it in different ways. "It was a Canadian lady who talked of how in Canada they put together a welcome pack for people who move to a new community. People got excited as we built on that theme, and we felt that’s the one we should propose.

A plan was hatched to create a similar pack of useful information which would help those moving into the area to feel connected with their neighbours. Emmanuel felt this to be particularly useful to her local area because of the transient nature of local community: "Many houses are rented, and there are a lot of students staying in the area, as well as Australians and new Zealanders. People often don't know what their bin day is for example, or they don't know what to do with their recycling bags. In my immediate vicinity we have a real problem with rubbish."

The project is still in its embryonic stages and there is a lot of research and planning to do, but the general idea will be to focus on the rental market and solicit help of local estate agents to distribute packs to new comers.

Emmanuel is particularly keen that the welcome packs do not simply replicate information found in council literature but also introduce people to many local shops. She thinks there might be potential for the project to become sponsorship driven, though she is anxious to avoid any risk of turning it into a marketing exercise.

The Fulham group is also considering holding regular social events can get to know each other, and perhaps developing a website.

For now, though, Emmanuel believes that simply getting people together for the coffeehouse Challenge meetings is helping to create community bonds: "There was a girl at the meeting who had lived here for three and a half and had never spoken to anyone other then the neighbour immediately next to her."