Hosting an event is an amazing way to bring people together and help tackle loneliness in your local community.
It can also be a great way to build your confidence and develop skills like event management (planning, budgeting, delivery), public speaking, networking, and presenting skills.
While it might seem like a daunting prospect to host your own event, it is very achievable and can be a lot of fun. Here is a go-to guide on how to plan and deliver your community event:
Step 1 – Brainstorm ideas
When thinking about what type of event to host, it’s best to stick to events that are free or cost-effective to host and attend so everyone is able to join in. We have 6 event types that we recommend for hosting:
1. Social walk – A walk and talk is a great way to get people talking while exploring the local area, getting some light exercise, and best of all—it’s free. Simply plan a route, a meet point, and perhaps a cafe or pub to finish the event at and enjoy some refreshments together.
2. Summer Picnic – If the British weather allows, find a local green space and host a picnic! People can bring their own food and beverages and enjoy building connections with others
3. Board game event – For those who fancy some board game action, host a board game event and get people playing together! Attendees can bring their own board games and enjoy some friendly competition and socialising—all you need to do is choose a venue. Pubs are sometimes willing to offer space for free, and (weather permitting) you could host outdoors in a local green area.
4. Group trip to free local attractions – Organise a visit to a free local attraction, like a museum, historical site, farmers’ market, or nature reserve. This is a great way to explore local culture or nature while socialising with others. It’s both educational and enjoyable, with plenty of opportunities for conversation.
5. Pub or coffee – Set up a casual meet-up at a local pub or coffee shop. Whether it’s an evening drink or a morning coffee, these gatherings offer a relaxed setting for getting to know new people. They’re easy to organise and can help build a regular community connection.
6. Virtual event (e.g., quiz, board games) – Virtual events are a great way to bring people together who may not be willing or able to attend in-person events. As we learned during the pandemic, activities like quizzes, trivia, and board games can work well over video call, and these don’t need a physical venue.
Step 2 – Gauge interest and build your guest list
Before committing to hosting an event, it can be useful to gauge interest in your proposed event from the local community and potential attendees, at which point you can put together your list of attendees.
By advertising your proposed event online, you can gauge interest and start building your guest list—here are some websites we recommend for this:
Meetup – This is the largest and most popular platform for hosting and organising friendship-oriented events and activities. On the platform, you can create a community around the activities you are looking to run and find people who are looking to build their social circle. However, it is worth noting the app charges a monthly or yearly fee to use as an organiser ($29.99 per month / $174.99 per year). However, if you are committed to hosting several events during your subscription period, then we would recommend using this platform.
Nextdoor – Nextdoor is a free “hyperlocal” social networking platform, connecting people with others in their local area by postcode. This is ideal if you want to host an event with your neighbours and other people in your local area.
Eventbrite – Eventbrite is one of the most well-known event management platforms out there, allowing users to browse, create, and promote local events. This can be a great tool for building your event guest list, with a range of functions to help you market your event, manage the guest list, and contact your attendees. It is free to use as an organiser for up to 25 attendees or £7 per event for up to 100 attendees.
Locals – The Locals app is a great platform where you can promote an activity, connect and meet new people. It’s completely free to post your activities, and anyone who joins will be added to a group chat where you can share details of the event and start building that attendee list.
Facebook – Local Facebook groups can be a good way to advertise your event to a group or community that you think might be interested. Look for existing groups that have a following and contact the admins to see if they might be willing to share details of your event. When you’ve built a community, you may also want to create your own Facebook group to stay in touch.
Reddit – A social media platform built around communities (subreddits) and posts, allowing users to easily access and participate in communities that appeal to their interests. In certain parts of the UK, there are dedicated regional subreddits that you can use to find people who might be willing to join you for an event, like r/manchester, r/leeds, or even specific subreddits for making friends like r/LondonSocialClub.
Step 3 – Book a date and venue
Allow plenty of time for planning and give your guests as much advance notice as possible so they can free up their schedules.
When considering where to host the event, it’s best to aim for free or cost-effective solutions. You might want to consider checking with local businesses, pubs, or community centres to see if they might be able to host your event for free.
It can be a great idea to reach out to your list of attendees directly and use a poll or feedback to decide the best date and venue for everyone.
Step 4 – Host the event
It’s go time! Here are some top tips for hosting a great event:
Create a group chat with attendees before the event – This helps with communicating event information and is a great way to build a sense of community and connection between the attendees.
Get to know names – Try your best to remember everyone’s names! It helps build atmosphere at the event (and reduces awkwardness!) and makes people feel comfortable and seen. Name stickers can also help with this!
Prepare icebreakers – It’s inevitable for there to be some awkwardness at the start of the event as people get to know each other. A great way to speed up this phase is to bring along icebreakers to get people feeling relaxed and connecting with each other. Here are some great icebreaker ideas you could try.
Be perceptive – As a host, it’s your job to monitor the event and keep an eye out for group dynamics, how people are doing, and if anyone is being left out. Try and intervene when you spot one of these situations to make sure everyone is having a good time.
Be flexible – You may have meticulously planned the best event imaginable, but the golden rule of hosting an event is “the plan is just the plan”! Unpredictable things will happen, including who the attendees are and how they choose to participate in the event.The best approach for hosting a successful community event is to not be too rigid in sticking to your event plan; try and allow the event to unfold organically and adapt it to your attendees and external factors out of your control.
Step 5 – Review, Refine & Build Community
The final and maybe the most important step of hosting an event happens after it’s finished: reviewing your event and building your community.
Event review and feedback – It’s vital to always be striving for improvement as a community event host. Take a critical look back at the event and understand what went well and what could have been done better so your future events are even more enjoyable for attendees. You can also collect feedback from your attendees to gain valuable insight into the event from their perspective.
Build your community – It’s a great idea to send a message thanking everyone who attended and to share photos and other content from the event, as this goes a long way in building community and a sense of connection for your attendees.
And hopefully, you want to continue to build your community and host more events in the future! If so, it’s important to stay in touch with attendees after the event via your platform of choice and/or the group chat, where you can get feedback on the event and gauge interest in and ideas for future events.