Designing my first website http://cathford.moonfruit.com has been a challenging and rewarding experience, and not in the way I anticipated. I thought I might have a problem with the technology, but that was straightforward and I would recommend moonfruit to anyone who is thinking of creating a website. I thought I might struggle with the design, and there were times when I found myself looking at a chaotic pile of badly colour co-ordinated and disjointed boxes, but in the end what I found most complex was finding a way of describing who I am and what I do.Having worked as part of an organisation for many years I had become adept at describing the organisation's mission and values, but stepping out on my own has required me to focus in on my own values and mission.

It took me back to one of the most significant moments in my career when I sat with Chris May and we began to design a training course for volunteers in participatory arts. The funding had been found, the participants signed up and somehow we needed to work out what it was they were going to learn. For the first time we had to unpick what it is that we do in participatory arts, what are our values, our skills, knowledge and experience and how do you measure those things? It was an empowering moment as we started to unravel the complex role - project manager, advocate, teacher and learner, problem solver, finance manager, performer, campaigner, professional partner, session planner......oh, and artist.

This process inspired the development of a competence framework for participatory arts by c-pal (Consortium for Participatory Arts Learning) which will enable participatory artists and organisations to assess and celebrate the core values and wealth of skill, qualities and experience which underpin our work.

So, as I set out on my new adventure as a freelance practitioner, sometimes feeling quite alone and wondering what it is I do and whether I have the skills and focus I need to succeed, I can already sense that the experiences and conversations, the partnerships with other artists and communities that I have had over the past 20 years will be there to draw on and inspire me and I await with eager anticipation the new experiences which will add to my rather random and extremely useful toolbox.