20 August 2009
The Oxford Muse Conversation Dinner at Ikea Wales was a wonderful success, with nearly 80 people attending who attend FAN Groups or have supported the FAN Charity. Hosted by the Oxford Muse, their Conversation Dinners are arranged so that strangers come together to discuss a range of topics from a ‘Menu of Conversation,’ which encourages reflection on different aspects of life. We talked about life, love and the world we live in... The event sought to create new kinds of conversation between individuals of different generations, backgrounds and cultures and faiths. This fitted perfectly with the aims of ‘The FAN Charity’ because we want ‘FAN Groups in villages and towns of every country so that any stranger can find the nearest group and be sure of meeting a friendly face'. The rule of the evening was that everyone had to sit next to someone they had not met before. At first, we thought this maybe difficult, as many people from FAN Groups know each other. As we took our seats for the dinner, we realised that there are many people who attend various FAN Groups who had never met each other before. Rarely too, do we have the luxury of time, for an in depth conversation where we can listen to each other for such a long time. It was wonderful for FAN friends to meet in this way and for us all to see how many people support a FAN Group in different areas of Cardiff, and FAN friendship is widening all the time. So many of us really enjoyed the event and we want to thank the Oxford Muse for hosting this event and for their generosity. We also want to thank Dr. Tim Wharton and Laura Evans for inviting us and welcoming us to this very special event. We hope to continue to support their various community ventures at IKEA...
FAN attendee and Sociologist Nick Jewson commented on the event: ‘The way we live today so often undermines old-established relationships of community, workplace, family, neighbourhood and kinship. We need new kinds of social contexts, like FAN and Muse, where we can forge fresh networks of friendship, support and care.’... For more information about the Oxford Muse Charity and the Conversation Dinners, please visit Oxford Muse.