All of Purton's voluntary and community groups were invited to send representatives to the workshop. With the support of North Wilts District Council, each household and known business in the Parish was sent an individual invitation to attend the event. Children at both primary and secondary schools were informed of the workshop and invited to come along with their families and take part. The Village Development Focus Group hosted the workshop on behalf of the Parish Council and its members facilitated all the activities.

Some people attended both days, others attended all or part of either Day One (Saturday) which attracted 73 people or Day Two (Sunday) which attracted 74 people. These included representatives from community groups and organisations such as women's, environmental, social and young people's organisations, other focus groups, the church and those from small local businesses.

A number of Parish Councillors were in attendance throughout the weekend, both as contributors and as representatives of other Focus Groups. In addition, NWDC Forward Planning Department provided maps and other planning-related resources, the District's Area Two (Purton, Cricklade, Wootton Bassett) Co-ordinator was in attendance throughout Day One and one of Purton's District Councillors took an active part in the Workshop on both days. Wiltshire County Council's 2 local youth and community workers attended the workshop weekend, organising and displaying the Youth Centre's contribution to the event.

The programme for the weekend was loosely based on the Countryside Agency model workshop, outlined in its information pack "Village Design - Making Local Character Count in New Development".

With' the addition of Focus Group information, young people's display and workshop sessions, a video about Village Design Statements and high-quality catering available throughout the weekend, the workshop was a unique, locally-relevant event aimed at meeting the needs and interests of our own Parish.

Discussion groups started the process off and provided a structure for those attending to start thinking about defining the character of Purton, Braydon and Purton Stoke. They resulted in descriptions of a number of values ascribed to different parts of the village and of things which are important in creating its individual character.

The second part of the day was the photo-survey. The Parish was divided into eleven areas and teams of people, each led by a Focus Group member, took photographs depicting various characteristics of the village. Each group kept a log and notes of any key points they wished to make while taking their photo's.

On return from the photo-survey, participants were given lunch and the opportunity to look at the various displays. This included information about Community Planning issues, examples of Design Statements and the work of Purton's Focus Groups.

At the close of the session, the returned films were taken for processing by arrangement with SupaSnaps in Swindon.

Two sessions were held on the Sunday, each dealing with the same task. This was to bring together all the elements of Saturday's activities to arrive at a representative, broadly consensual view of the character of the Parish.

Views and comments made during the workshop sessions were recorded on flip-charts and post-it notes throughout the weekend.