New fortnightly Meet Up for quieter people launches in Cubert

A church that spent a week in July filled with quiet is about to open its doors again, every other Thursday, for anyone who would rather sit with a cup of tea than make small talk.

📷Community at HushFest

From festival to fortnightly gathering

Cubert is getting a new fortnightly Meet Up for people who identify as quiet, introverted, highly sensitive or shy, or who experience social anxiety. It launches on Thursday 1 October, running from 1.30pm to 3.30pm, and is organised by Quiet Connections, the Cornwall-based community group behind HushFest, the county’s Festival of Quietness.

The idea grew out of that festival. St Cubert Church, one of the churches in the Celtic Quiet Places network, was one of HushFest’s main venues in July. It hosted an exhibition, creative workshops and the festival’s opening celebration, with people from the local community helping to welcome visitors and keep things running through the week. HushFest was funded by FEAST.

By the time the festival ended, conversations had already begun about whether something more regular could carry on in Cubert.

Talk as much or as little as you like

At a Quiet Connections Meet Up, there is no set way to take part. People might chat over a cuppa, join an optional creative activity, bring a book or a project of their own, or simply sit quietly alongside others. Nobody is expected to join in with anything.

The approach behind it all is straightforward: “It’s okay to talk and it’s okay to be quiet too.”

📷Wendy Barritt and the Cubert Meet Up team

Wendy Barritt and the team behind it

Wendy Barritt helped host HushFest at St Cubert Church, and described the exhibition and concert there as “a joy”. She said that by the end of the festival, “Quiet Connections is now well known in Cubert.”

Since then, Wendy has pulled together a local team to get the new Meet Up off the ground, with the plans backed by St Cubert Church’s Parochial Church Council.

“St Cubert Church has its own atmosphere of peace and tranquillity, and the workshops during the HushFest exhibition thrived in the quiet surroundings,” Wendy said. “Starting a Meet-up group here seemed like the perfect opportunity to offer hospitality and refreshment to the wider community, in a very quiet way!”

Getting involved

The Cubert Meet Up joins Quiet Connections’ existing network of regular Meet Ups held across Cornwall and online, a programme supported by the National Lottery Community Fund. St Cubert Church is providing the venue, but the group is not religious and carries no faith element.

There is no need to book. Anyone who would rather say hello or ask a question before coming along can register in advance. The Meet Up starts on a fortnightly basis and could become weekly if there is enough local interest.

First Meet Up: Thursday 1 October, 1.30pm to 3.30pm
Then: every other Thursday, 1.30pm to 3.30pm
Venue: St Cubert Church, 1 Churchtown, Cubert, Newquay, TR8 5EZ
Cost: free
Booking: not required
Accessibility: St Cubert Church is not currently wheelchair accessible. Further information on accessibility, parking and public transport is on the Quiet Connections website.

Wendy is already thinking beyond Cubert. “There is also the possibility of starting a group for the Newquay area in the church, and that would be a great outcome,” she said. “Watch this space!”

📷HushFest at St Cubert Church. Credit: Alex Hart