“A Real Endorsement From the Community”
This week we took part in Redruth Soup Night – and came away with the winning vote.
Our weekly sessions actually began with Soup Night support a few years ago, when we won one of the early events and used the money to help start Invention Club.
This time, we were pitching alongside two genuinely brilliant local projects. Ruth from Bethel Community Larder and another Ruth pitching for Grow Box CIC’s allotment project were both doing important work, and it felt difficult being “against” them, knowing how much good they would both do with the funding too.
That’s part of what makes Soup Night such a special event. It doesn’t really feel competitive in the usual sense. It feels much more like a room full of people trying to support community ideas and hear what people are passionate about.
Around 40 people came along to Grow Box Café for the evening. Everyone contributes £10 into the pot, shares soup and bread together, listens to three short pitches, and then votes using a button placed into the box for the project they want to support.
The soup was provided by The Grow Box, and bread was generously donated by Berryman’s Bakery in Redruth.
At the start of the evening, Sarah Perry read out “Soup” by Salena Godden, which always sets the tone perfectly for the night and reminds everyone what the event is really about: community, creativity, care and supporting each other.
We spoke about how Fluxus has grown from a small homemade arcade idea into workshops, exhibitions, interactive projects and Invention Club sessions, bringing together people of different ages and backgrounds to make things together.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen how much people in Redruth want opportunities to make things, experiment, share skills and get involved in creative practical projects. From automata and carnival games to electronics, animation and interactive shop windows, the project has gradually grown through people getting involved and encouraging us to keep going.
Fluxus is about creating visible, welcoming activity in the town centre and giving people confidence to try things they might never have attempted before.
The money we received will go directly towards tools, materials and equipment to help restart Fluxus activities and workshops again this year.
When presenting the award, Sara Clasper described it as “a real endorsement from the community” for Fluxus, which genuinely meant a lot to hear.
Fluxus has always grown through community support, collaboration and people sharing what they know with each other, so that comment really stayed with us. Especially when the vote was between us and two other incredible projects.
Huge thanks to everyone who came along, organised the evening, made food, donated bread, pitched ideas, voted, chatted to us afterwards, and continues to support creative community projects in Redruth.
And thank you to Sara Clasper for presenting us with the award at the end of the night.
Events like Soup Night are a reminder that small amounts of community support can genuinely grow into something much bigger over time.
Redruth Soup Night on Facebook Redruth Soup Night on Instagram
