Authentic Connection Group (FRED)

When: monthly on Tuesdays, 18:00-21:00. Check Eventbrite or The Salisbury Centre website.

How to attend: please make you sure you book via Eventbrite - we're introducing this now to keep our booking simpler and collect enough donations to cover the room hire. 100% of the donations (minus the booking fee) go to The Salisbury Centre.

The group is open to everyone, both regular members and one-off visitors. If you have a question, email [email protected]

Room: Art Room, occasionally in the Garden (if the weather is good)

Suggested donation: £5-10 (please find more information on how to donate at the end of this page)

Accessibility: Art Room is located on the ground floor and it is fully accessible. Studio is not accessible yet. The Salisbury Centre’s kitchen door and toilet are now wheelchair accessible. The Garden can also be accessed by wheelchairs via a movable ramp via the Art Room Annex.

The Authentic Connection Group, also known as “Authentic Fred,” is a community-run, experimental space where we practice the art of relating. We do it through playing Authentic Relating games, learning about consent, Circling, and exploring other practices that bring us closer to ourselves and each other.

Our two keywords are “Authentic” and “Connection”.

Authentic, because we believe in staying true to your experience and expressing it in a skilful way to others, rather than pretending you’re feeling / thinking something else.

Connection, because we value staying in connection with ourselves and others, no matter what our experience is at any point.

We draw a lot on Authentic Relating games, inspired by Sara Ness and the work of Authentic Revolution work. At the same time, we’re open to all practices that have to do with connection, communication, and relationships. Each session is different and unique. However, we do have our roots in foundational practices such as The Noticing Game and Circling.

Our informal motto is this quote from Fred Rodgers, an American TV host and author:

“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone.”

Please book your spot via Eventbrite. At this time, we’re keeping the spaces limited to 20 people (not including the facilitators) due to the room size and the nature of what we’re doing. This ensures a quality experience for everyone.

After you’ve come for a few times and feel more comfortable in the group, you’re very welcome to take lead, too. This can mean facilitating (or co-facilitating) one of the sessions, taking on replying to email for a few weeks, or writing our bi-weekly newsletter.

All of this is optional but highly encouraged! 🙂 The group relies on the contributions of the members and is co-created by all.

Our agreements are signposts for the group’s culture. They help us know what to expect in the group (both from ourselves and others) and through that, create a space in which we can feel safer to explore edgy relational territory.

We always revisit the agreements at the beginning of the session. You can read through them out here at any time.

Here’s the short version:

1. Honour Yourself
2. Confidentiality by Request
3. Stay Present
4. Own Your Experience & Check Your Assumptions
5. Don’t Give Advice (Unless explicitly asked)

Participation in our community-led events is often on a voluntary ‘by donation’ basis. This means that nobody is expected to make a payment if they cannot afford to do so. However, any donations received for the Authentic Connection Group will be passed on to The Salisbury Centre, helping to make the events’ programme sustainable.

Where a “suggested donation” is listed, this is just an indication of what the event might cost if it was ticketed – it is fine to donate less (or nothing at all). Donating is one way to show your appreciation for the value of the Salisbury Centre. Please consider ‘paying it forward’ by donating a bit extra if you can afford, helping to keep it possible for everyone to take part, regardless of their circumstances.

Suggested donation for this event is £5 - 10.

To donate:

• add your donation to Eventbrite booking
• bring cash on the evening, or
• donate online on www.salisburycentre.org/donate (using “Authentic Connection” as REFERENCE).
• pay with card at the front door, please add a reference (e.g. Authentic Connection) using the pen icon top right on the pay-point screen

This is an invitation to practice ‘Dana’ (generosity) – please pay only what you can afford to attend. If you cannot afford a donation, there are also a few free spots for each event.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Salisbury Centre, 2 Salisbury Road, Edinburgh, United Kingdom