How do you start something on your street without it being cringe? I have thought about it for a year and done nothing because I cannot picture the first message.

One answer

• The cringe is in the framing, and it comes almost entirely from announcing a community. Do not start a community. Announce one specific thing, at one specific time, with an easy exit: "I am putting the kettle on outside number 14 on Sunday at 11 if anyone fancies it." A one-off with a date attached is easy to ignore and easy to join. A Neighbourhood Initiative asks people to sign up to an identity, which is a much bigger thing to say yes to and is why most of them never get past the first message. Paper through doors beats a group chat nobody is in yet. Put your first name and the house number on it, nothing else. Then expect two people. Two people is not a failure, it is the normal first turnout, and it is enough — do it again a fortnight later. The second one is where you find out whether it becomes a thing, and if it does not, you spent two Sunday mornings outside with a kettle, which is not a bad way to have spent them.

  @beingkind · an hour ago