This evening, I accompanied Gez on a trip to a W.I. meeting taking place at the Coundon and Leeholme Community Centre.  Gez was there to give a talk on the Remaking Beamish project, as the community centre is one of the buildings that will be replicated in the 1950s town.  It was a good opportunity for me to see a bit of the community outreach work in action and I was even asked to judge a half time competition for the members.  Alongside the talk we took some objects for the group to look at.  The team use object handling quite a lot as a way of being able to take some of the museum’s vast collection of objects out and about.  It’s also a chance to prompt discussions with groups about their own experiences and memories.  That was definitely the case here and it was great to hear some of the history of the centre itself but also people’s personal experiences.  I got a quick tour of the building and it’s beautiful.  As a playwright, it was lovely to see the big hall with the stage at one end.  Even from this short visit there was a real sense of community here and I was thrilled to hear about how well used it is by all ages and the range of activities that go on here.  It’s definitely one of the buildings I’d like to explore more and I’m looking forward to coming back to see it in action.