Hello,
Having trouble finding anything in Cornwall related to Arduino. All the groups I find claim to be maker groups or somehow coding or electronics related but it ends up at knitting and cake baking (not that I don't love such things ! lol).
Anything further afield might be helpful anywhere in the South West, otherwise I guess it's London ?
I am in S.Wales and its much the same here, there is no Arduino specific stuff going on that I can find.
A few Makerlabs and plenty of Amateur radio stuff but not much else.
There is a bit of Meshtastic activity, which is based on LoRa\Arduino but no meetings or get together stuff.
There was a LoRaWAN group, but that closed down.
My local council in the Southeast does it's best, bless them.
They run Artists and Makers events each year and each year I hope to see some technology, only to be disappointed
Their idea of makers - innovators and experimenters? - is tea and cake in the garden and an exhibition of homemade trugs or oasis sculptures.
The once in a decade STEMs (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) town hall exhibition is largely a collection of games for kids.
Exactly 
. I'm starting to consider starting my own group. Does Arduino provide an support for this ? Starter packs ? What about Adafruit ?
Funny story. I did a BA(Hons) Creative Music Technology at Falmouth Uni. I rediscovered a childhood interest in electronics through their Arduino module. But Arduino was like kryptonite to the other students 
. They'd almost slink out the room trying to get away from it 
. Fair enough I guess. They were there for the guitars and recording studios. However the uni did have some very talented Arduino lecturers and musicians who had set up commercial audio/visual displays using Arduino 
Yes, Arduino was a chance find for me.
I had used electronics and microcontrollers, but in the 80's and 90's, it wasn't easy to get started. I could see the potential, but as a solo effort, it was beyond me, until I found Arduino.
The nearest I got to electronics as a child were the crystal sets and one valve shortwave radios sold in the back pages of Boy Own Paper.
I've never met anyone else who uses microcontrollers outside work.
The starter packs are all very well, but being able to talk or see someone else who even has the same interests would be a real leap.
I mentioned the STEMs exhibitions. Despite a close inspection, I couldn't see one stand that had anything like a PCB, let alone an Arduino board.
Cool!
We did have an "Arduino User Group" program in the past, but that program is currently suspended due to us not being able to allocate the resources required to provide the groups with the level of support we feel they deserve.
The closest thing to it is our coordination with independent community events that are held to celebrate the annual Arduino Days event. You can see the map of such events held during the 2026 Arduino Days last spring:
I would definitely recommend any community groups consider organizing an Arduino Days celebration. Such events could be a great way to motivate the group members and gain more awareness in the community. It doesn't need to be something elaborate.
Even when the "Arduino User Group" program was in effect, I don't think it would be a significant factor in the success of a group. If you are able to find a way to effectively organize such a group and develop a sufficient number of participants, it is going to work even as a completely independent initiative.
Definitely worth checking!