Frome Neighbourhood Networks (FNN)
The Frome Neighbourhood Network (FNN) is a community organisation that helps build connected, caring and resilient communities at street and neighbourhood level. From 2025 to 2026, I documented the organisation’s activities with photography, interviews and video.
An exhibition for the Frome Kindness Festival
The photos and texts below are from an exhibition held on Cheap Street in Frome during the 2026 Frome Kindness Festival. Commissioned by FNN, the exhibition highlighted a small selection of the many everyday acts of kindness carried out by neighbours across our town. Each image was accompanied by a short explanatory text featuring quotes from the people involved.
I worked with FNN to decide which stories to feature, contacting neighbourhood groups and drawing on my own network of friends and neighbours. I then arranged and photographed the groups — not an easy task, as it rained almost every day during the two months or so I had available for the project!
See here for the story behind the photo
Lasagne and Baguettes
These two friendly Frome families live on opposite sides of Nunney Road. When Lydia and Joel first moved in, Alice and Ed brought them a bottle of champagne and some welcome drawings by their daughters, Poppy and Delila. Then, shortly after Lydia and Joel’s third child, Ozzie, was born, Alice and Ed turned up on their doorstep with lasagne and home-baked baguettes.
“As parents, we know how crazy it is in those early days and weeks,” says Joel. “We wanted to do something so that they didn’t have to cook.”
For his wife Lydia, life in Frome is a completely different experience from their previous home of London. “We found it hard to get to know our neighbours in London, even though we were so close with flats all around,” she says. “This road’s got a really nice mix.”
See here for the story behind the photo
The Kindness of Sharing
Frome’s share boxes are about the kindness of sharing. Beechwood Avenue residents, Jackie, Hilary, Mike, Laura, and Celia, all regularly use the share box on their street.
“If you’ve enjoyed a book, then you want to share it, pass it on to someone else,” says Hilary. Laura recently picked up The Runner’s Guide to Yoga, and she now uses it regularly.
“Sometimes there’s a whole load on one theme, and you wonder, ‘who’s into that?’” says Jackie. “Mike, who looks after the share box, recently put out his great uncle’s diary from World War One, which happens to be in French. “It’s been there for a few weeks waiting for someone with an interest in French military history!”
See here for the story behind the photo
Frodo the Cat
Helen, Shop Manager of Blue Cross Frome, holding Frodo the cat, with volunteers Gabby and Chloe.
Local celebrity, Frodo the cat, is both a giver and receiver of kindness. Most mornings, he visits the Blue Cross charity shop for a snack and a nap.
“He was waiting outside this morning,” says shop manager Helen. “He just sits, looks up, paws the door, and gives me a big miaow to say good morning.”
Frodo gets on particularly well with shop volunteers who have autism or ADHD, she says. “He’s a sensitive cat. He sits on the counter, and they stroke him. He makes them feel happier and less anxious. He’s kind to the people who volunteer here.”
A video to introduce Transition Streets Frome
I also created a video to introduce Frome Neighbourhood networks and the Transition Streets Project, interviewing members of two of the local street groups.
