Best Bits of the Brighton Summit

What a special day. I have met so many amazing people and had countless discussions on one of my favourite topics: Why Brighton is just that much better than London.

Highlights for me include the pleasure hour (naturally), flitting between the panels, listening to the choir, learning about resilience and graffiti and 3D printing (wowzer!?) and most of all, hearing this phrase, repeated in various ways but with the same heightened passion: "We need to work together to make Brighton the very best that it can be." Let us take that further than this day.

For those who don't already know, we're currently working on a project that makes me, for one, very excited. The 100 sides of Brighton campaign will soon fly; we are aiming to find out what Brighton means to the people who form it. In preparation, I asked several people at the Summit, 'Why Brighton?'

Dean Atta summed it up beautifully when I chatted with him this morning: "There's a warmth in Brighton, everything seems a lot friendlier. When I perform my poetry in Brighton I know, I can do anything...When you sit on Brighton beach, you can actually visualise yourself on the map."

Dean's poem 'You tell me' summed up a unique day and a shared belief, collective and individual dreams and experiences. I have to say thank you to him for forming a helter-skelter from the English language, a ride which went beyond this day to a city and a way of life that means so much to so many people.

'You tell me' summed it all up best: "You have to take everyone along for the ride".

By Sophie Turton

@TurtonSophie

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