We have just had a fantastic day with members of one of the Scottish advisory groups making collage and talking about what it feels like to belong, what experiences people have had of feeling like they ‘don’t belong’ and how and where we can build a sense of belonging as part of building a life. This was one of a number of steps we have taken towards writing an accessible, illustrated journal article about belonging for the British Journal of Learning Disabilities.

Making collage’s from pictures in magazines helped us to talk about belonging and think about how to visualize different ‘belongings’. Collage, paper dolls and coloured buttons worked as ‘prompts’ and material ‘meeting points’ in this collaborative process. We went well beyond those standard photo symbols and this activity got us talking about a whole variety of topics relating to belonging, including feelings about support workers, cuts in services, the importance of local groups and networks and where people find out information about what is going on in their local community.