Community Psychology Festival 2025

Norwich hosted BPS’ 9th Community Psychology Festival at The Forum in Norwich. The theme this year was Untold Stories: Tales of Community Strength.
Community psychology is a field of psychology that goes beyond the individual. It seeks to break down the barriers to promote and apply inclusion and participation within communities by tackling the social determinants of poor mental and physical health. Community psychologists work within communities and hold social justice at their core.

The festival was not only about showcasing new work and ideas, but to also come together to build and strengthen together for transformative social change.
Founded in 2014 by the British Psychological Society Community Psychology Section, community festivals have become an accessible and engaging alternative to an academic conference.

Through the years, other artists, professionals, community groups, grassroots organisations, activists and students have joined to branch psychology out to where it needs to be.

Community Quilt of each of the organisiations

Some of our exhibition pieces, featuring guest artists and workshop pieces.

The theme focused on Untold Stories. Humans have always used storytelling to connect, pass on knowledge, memorialise and build ideas. For culture, strength, celebration and wisdom.

“We also want to reflect together on which narratives have been prioritised and repeated and told the loudest, and think about the stories we have been told while also reflecting on which stories have been lost or silenced. There will be space to explore our own and other’s community narratives and reclaim stories that have got lost or silenced and maybe create some stories of our own as a festival community! BPS Community Psychology Festival invite, 2025”

“A place you don’t pass by, but go to by choice. This is where the road leads – to these welcoming streets. To a big-hearted city beneath even bigger skies, and open air, open minds.
This is a place of unique perspectives, soaring spires, pub fires. Of rebels and rebellions, of sanctuary and faith. It’s pie and peas on the market, summer festival nights, Christmas lights, glowing pride.
It’s never giving up, it’s pure belief. A roar above rooftops when we score on matchday. A place of welcome. Of refuge and shelter. Of strangers becoming friends. We assemble avengers. We make mavericks. This is not a place in the middle of nowhere, this place is our everywhere, it’s everyone’s. And you’re all welcome here.”

For more interest in the community psychology festivals you can contact them here: bps.enquiries@planit-live.com The festival team at compsychfest@gmail.com

It was lovely to be a part of the public engagement, with an art exhibition of the grassroots organisations and workshop tables. These ran alongside the paid, ticketed conference. It was also a great way to spread the word further and tell people what it was all about.

Our NotSafeForTreatment table was a collaborative visual mind map asking about mental health an psychology:

“What do you want services to look like?”

We set out plenty of materials for people and started drawing and it didn’t take long for people to come over and join in.

After some initial nervousness from some of our new budding artists, people got really into it and the conversations that went along with it was great.

Some people may look over, but after some gentle encouragement they added something to the mindmap, often opening up more about their own experience or about loved ones.

It was really interesting to see how people may feel the topic isn’t for them and after a conversation – seeing how many people are effected in all different ways. Teachers, emergency humanitarian aid workers, nurses, peer support workers, parents, friends, loved ones, SEND workers, musicians. Lots of people joined in and spoke about how they may have been involved with mental health services. Whether it was being a teacher having to jump through endless hoops for one of their students, whether it was the aid worker who helps people in natural disaster or war be housed yet compares the housing situation and other bureucracy challenges here, someone who is worried about a friend, a person whos too afraid to use services but prefers the charity sector. There were lots of differerent conversations and great depicitions of them and the ideas of improvement drawn up creatively too.

At the end of the festival, the community quilt was presented and there was a performance by Not Your Average Choir https://www.instagram.com/notyouraveragechoirnorwich/

The quilt was beautifully put together with the love of the organisers. All patches were made by the groups and organisations that joined the festival. It’s such a lovely representation of the weekend as a whole and the ethos of community psychology too.