An organisation that celebrates folk heritage and kinship launched in Teignmouth on Sunday (October 13) with the opening of a community space, shop and gallery.

Based on Fore Street in Teignmouth, the Folk Preservation Society will host performances, workshops, film screenings and other events in its community space, which is also available for people to sit and chill. Makers will also be able to exhibit in the gallery while the shop will sell ‘records, books, oddities and art’.

The Folk Preservation Society was co-founded by Amerie Rose, who has a background in social enterprise, and Harry Key, who runs Sound Preservation Society (SPS) Records in Teignmouth. It aims to provide a welcoming space where anyone can explore what folk means.

‘It’s about exploring what it is to be folk today, what it was in the past and what it might be in the future,’ explained Folk Preservation Society co-founder Amerie Rose. ‘We’re here to create space to explore, inform and action: what unites us; why our differences are as important as our similarities; and how to create society,’ she added.

The space has been designed to be as welcoming as possible for the whole community, with a sofa, access to a kitchen and games and books to enjoy.

‘Everybody is welcome. No matter where you’re from, no matter where you’re going, you’re welcome to use this space. We want to make it as friendly and welcoming as possible for the local community, who have been incredible, and also the wider network and we will be using social media and modern ways to hopefully reach right across the country and even across the world,’ said Amerie.

Connections, not only to people but also to the landscapes, played a key role in deciding on the location of the Folk Preservation Society.

Teignmouth was chosen as the physical space because it is at the mouth of a river that starts in deepest Dartmoor at Teignhead. ‘It has that connection across the landscape and that connection across communities and different ways of living,’ Amerie said.