Plot 9 Presents... (#2)

Under a parachute in SE London… 5 presenters, Q&A and fire-side chat. A brand-new event in a brand-new outdoor community space. FREE BUT PLEASE BOOK A TICKET.

Join us for our Plot 9 Presents… event at the magical Plot 9 - a council allotment that Andy has transformed into a new community gathering space. The event will take place in a structure he (and hopefully in time, the world!) calls the 'Dodeca-Den' - a 12-sided/circular gathering space designed for workshops, talks and therapeutic practices.

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The Idea...

Andy is collaborating with another Greenwich local, Clare Barry of Urban Curiosity to co-create this new event which we will be holding monthly (on the second Thursday of each month). After a warmly-received first event we're really excited about developing this new project!

The evening is designed to showcase a wide range of voices, speaking from the heart, on something they're passionate about… instigators, changemakers, sensemakers and curious minds who seek the weird and wonderful in the fringes and liminal spaces.

We hope the presentations open the door to further conversations, connections and hopefully collaborations. This event is focussed on long-term community building and we plan to hold the event through-out the year, no matter what the weather.

The area is covered and will go ahead unless the wind is strong enough to make the ex-army parachute break free from its tethers and take to the skies again. And even then, we'll find a way. And if (when) it gets cold, we have fire!

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Presenters for our 2nd event

Exploring The Bigger Picture….

* Alexander Beiner is a podcaster, facilitator and author of recently-released 'The Bigger Picture: How psychedelics can help us make sense of the world' (Hay House, 2023). 

Ali has a love for making sense of culture, hosting transformative experiences, and exploring how we can evolve and thrive in the chaotic times we live in.  He was also one of the founders of Rebel Wisdom, a popular alternative media platform that ran from 2017-2022 and  explored the cutting-edge of systems change and cultural sensemaking. 

As well as publishing regular essays and articles on Substack, he is an executive director of Breaking Convention, Europe's longest-running conference on psychedelic medicine and culture, and also co-created and co-facilitates a legal psilocybin retreat called Regenerative Stewardship. 

Signed copies of Ali's book will be available on the night and it is also available on audible (read by Ali).

* Jackee Holder is a South Londoner who loves to walk in the urban landscape of South London where she lives.  A lover of nature in the city and with a committed practice of creative and therapeutic journaling Jackee has supported leaders and clinicians in her work as an executive leadership coach and facilitator on corporate leadership programmes. She is co-author of the Writing With Fabulous Tree and the Urban Forest Writing Maps. Jackee writes a monthly writing column in Psychologies magazine.

Jackee will be talking about how trees are part of her personal and cultural narrative and how the underground network of trees here and around the world help her to understand and nourish herself and her work.

Jackee’s instagram.

* Damyan Korada, a 16 year-old local young man, will be sharing with us his fascination with some of the more obscure and unusual creatures of this world.

* Luke Porter is a talented young singer-songwriter hailing from the north-east of England but living locally. He'll be kicking off the evening with one of his recently-written songs.

* Kat Reeves is a writer, poet and artist from Lewisham who arrived in the UK as a child refuge from Belgrade in the former Yugoslavia. She lives with chronic illness caused by endometriosis and recently received an autism diagnosis. After completing a creative writing short course at Goldsmiths University, Kat found confidence in sharing her words and lived experience. Her work explores the themes of home, loss and feelings and Kat will present a short piece called Helicopter at Plot 9 Presents…

Kat's instagram.

Please contact us if you'd like to speak at a future event or get involved in any way.

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Schedule

7:30pm: Arrive in time for the start...

8pm: We will start with a short grounding meditation then speakers will start at..

8:15pm: 4/5 presenters*,  followed by Q&A. Socialising until...

9:45pm(ish): Event (kind-of) closes. Please leave quietly. (Trains back into town leave at 21:44 and 22:07, a few mins walk away). Realistically the event doesn’t close until we call it a night… 

*and if we're lucky, Basil, the charming resident fox (pictured) might make one of his regular but unscheduled appearances.

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Travel info

Plot 9 is in east Greenwich, a few minutes walk from Maze Hill Overground Station which is served by Southeastern and Thameslink trains. You can catch a direct train to Maze Hill from any of: Greenwich, Deptford, London Bridge, Cannon St, Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon, St Pancras or West Hampstead.  

VIDEO DIRECTIONS: It's a short route from Maze Hill station to Plot 9 but a little bit convoluted so please look at video directions here showing how to get there from Platform 2 of Maze Hill where you'll alight if coming from central London.

It is also possible to travel via North Greenwich and get the 188 or 422 bus, alighting on Trafalgar Road or Woolwich Road and walking up Vanbrugh Hill, turning right onto Restell Close. The space is halfway down the hill on the right. Look for the bright green campervan and the entrance is 10 metres beyond it on the right.

Google maps pin. Postcode: SE3 7RD

If you're driving then there's usually plenty of free space on nearby Humber Road (free parking from 6:30pm).

Sadly Plot 9 is not (yet) wheelchair accessible.  

Leaving

To head back into town at the end of the event, trains leave platform 1 of Maze Hill station at 21:44, 22:07 and 22:14. Platform 1 is only a 1 minute walk from Plot 9. Please leave quietly as it's a residential area and Andy will take the flack if you don't! 

If you'd like to stay on in the area and chat then the very-recently reopened pub The Duke of Greenwich is 2 minutes walk away and open until 11pm. 

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Refreshments

Please feel free to bring any refreshments and snacks. Water will be available for humans and dogs.

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Toilets

On arrival: Toilets in Maze Hill station are open until 7:30pm

Toilets in Andy's flat adjacent to Plot 9 by special request ;) Also plenty of wild-wee options. :) We hope to have a composting loo soon.

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Donations

This is a free event but Plot 9 is happy to accept your donations which can be your time, plants, ideas or cash via paypal to support the development and maintenance of the space. Plot 9 has been built almost single-handedly by Andy and he has funded it himself until recently. Andy has welcomed donations of plants from the Moat Foundation and Greenwich Park and is grateful for their support, alongside friends and family that have lent a hand and much moral support.

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Keeping in touch / interested in using the space?

Plot 9 is available to hire for free (by donation) for events that align with our values of providing an inclusive therapeutic space for activities that support community-building, well-being, connecting with nature, creativity and learning. Send Plot 9's Instagram a dm or email andy.millns@gmail.com if you're interested in talking.

To stay informed of events at Plot 9 and Andy's other projects, join the very infrequent mailing-list here or follow Plot 9's Instagram.