Grief doesn't keep office hours, and it rarely waits for the right moment. That's the thinking behind Open Arms Grief Café, the drop-in bereavement support session now running at The Hub@BA15, the community charity based at the Old Town Hall on Church Street, Bradford on Avon.

A quiet space that's found its footing

Since launching, Open Arms has grown from a small, tentative gathering into a steady fixture in the Hub's calendar. There's no agenda, no need to book, and no pressure to talk if you'd rather just listen. Visitors drop in for tea, coffee, cake and company, and stay for as long, or as short a time as they need.

It’s been a couple of weeks of community and belonging. I've been lucky enough to belong to several quite different communities over the years, and each has taught me something slightly different about what it means to show up for other people, and to let them show up for you. And I celebrated this with a visit to the Archers tribute garden at RHS Badminton. (Yes I am a paid-up member of the Archers Addicts.)

And so I’m reflecting on three communities to which I belong and what they bring to the people who belong to them.

The village gardening club

A new grief cafe in my local town

The professional network I joined when i stopped working full-time in school

The professional network I joined when i stopped working full-time in school