Finding your voice through community
Flis Pitman
As a teenager, I used to get the bus from Gosport into Southampton – first for shopping and later for the city’s pubs, bars and great music venues, including old favourites Nexus and The Dungeon when they were open! To me, Southampton has always been a place where you could find the people and spaces that are the right fit.
As someone who rarely experienced live music in Gosport in the 90s, the diversity and range of creative spaces in Southampton connected me with musicians, poets and storytellers of all kinds. They showed me the power of standing out from the crowd and sharing ideas with the world.
Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of being a Local Connector with Southampton Forward and taking part in their Ignite Leadership Programme. It’s a fantastic project that supports emerging leaders across Southampton who are looking to create real change. Through the initiative, I’ve met some awesome people that remind me leadership is about finding your own voice, so that you can support others to find their own.
After graduating from university in Kent in 2005, I struggled to find a path into TV editing. Retail jobs followed, and eventually I returned to Hampshire. It was here I was introduced to a world of community and creativity I didn’t know existed when I joined Hampshire County Council and Winchester City Council as an assistant to an Arts Development Manager.
My career in the arts began to take off when I secured roles at Thornden Hall in Chandler’s Ford and The Anvil in Basingstoke. During this time, I completed an MA in Cultural and Arts Management at the University of Winchester where I’ve also been lucky enough to teach on occasion since graduating. Between 2011 and 2020 I lived in Winchester and Basingstoke before moving back to Southampton with my partner – a place that now feels firmly like home.
In recent years, my life has included profound losses within my family. It was a period that tested me deeply, and one that I’m still learning from. What carried me through was community – the kindness of friends, colleagues and neighbours, and the quiet reassurance of familiar streets and faces.
Since leaving Anvil Arts in 2022, I’ve worked freelance with organisations such as the popular music venue Turner Sims. Most recently, I’ve landed a full-time position at co-working space Clockwise as a Community Coordinator. I’ll be using my skills and experience to empower SMEs and freelancers to support their own wellbeing through events and connect with Southampton’s wider community.
I’ve made some amazing friends and found so much joy through creative endeavours. My friends have run popular DIY events such as music show A Public Disservice Announcement and the Radical Reading Group in Portswood. They still run the monthly And There it Was… For the Curious writers’ group at God’s House Tower and the wonderful annual DIY Festival. I’ve always connected with the pubs and music venues in town too – both as a performer and a punter. Places like The Joiners and The Cricketers in Carlton Place are where I’ve drunk, eaten, laughed and cried.
The people I’ve met through the Ignite programme have made the experience very special. The stories they share about work they are doing are told with passion, care and determination to make the voices of their communities heard. It reminds me that there are so many people working hard across our city.
After three years of recovery and reflection, I’m beginning again with a renewed sense of purpose. Southampton’s communities have shown me that belonging is built through shared creativity, shared kindness and shared hope. Even in a big city, each neighbourhood is its own small world of music, art and food – and in those spaces, we find one another.
We are connected not only by the challenges we face, but by the joy we create together. And in that connection, I’ve found my voice again.
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