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A holistic approach to support – Voices in Exile group work funded by Enjoolata

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Voices in Exile support refugees, asylum seekers and those with no recourse to public funds. Their ethos  is multi-faith and human rights based and their approach is collaborative and holistic. 

First and foremost Voices in Exile offer practical and legal support to those unable to access the justice system and services such as healthcare, but once these basic needs are taken care of they also provide their members with access to a range of creative programmes. Through these programmes VIE Seeks to help people find positive ways to address their needs, build skills and work towards integration. 

VIE received a £10,000 grant from Enjoolata to help fund these group activities which included sewing on the  ONCA Barge at Brighton Marina, gardening and cooking activities with Common ground in Stanmer Park, a cultural visit to Brighton Museum and Pavillion and pottery and sculpture classes at Hanover Community Centre. 

VIE have reported that the activities have already had a significant impact on members –  improving their sense of connection to Brighton, reducing isolation and encouraging members to participate independently in beneficial wellbeing and creative activities and groups in the area. 

VIE have helped their members gain access to free classes such as women’s yoga at the Brighton Natural Health Centre, Men’s Pilates at the Meeting House, International Women’s group at Jubilee Library and stone carving, woodwork, textiles and photography at Fabrica. 

Outcomes of the workshops have included 

  • Improved knowledge and confidence to access local services and activities
  • Practise using digital devices and the internet
  • Participation in health and wellbeing activities
  • Improved social networks and connections to the city
  • Increased confidence in everyday English and participation in / leading group workshops
  • Access to other groups and volunteering

One member commented ‘I would like to thank you (Voices in Exile) for your help and support for me and my family, especially Miss Hayat who gave me support and was by my side in my most difficult times. I used to feel lonely and isolated but thanks to you I now feel that I am not alone’. 

Support comes in many forms and whilst it is vital to address the essential basic needs of individuals,  Voices in Exile’s work in the community is a reminder that there is more to life beyond basic needs and everyone should have the same opportunities to live their life to their full potential.

The Old Green

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In the summer of 2021 Enjoolata awarded funding to a small group of residents on Stanmer road on the outskirts of Brighton who had got together to transform a piece of scrub land known as The Old Green into a natural and educational resource for the local community.

The group were set on regenerating the land using the permaculture approach of working with nature and not against it. They planned to grow herbs, wildflowers and vegetables and to provide educational activities to members of the local community.

Now entering its second year the garden has evidently become an important asset for the community, especially during the pandemic when social isolation was at an all-time high. It is being used by all age groups and particularly by mothers and their children. It has been used for Christmas carol concerts and Halloween gatherings and the residents have future plans to hold all sorts of workshops in the area.

Fig, apple, and pear trees have been planted along the length of the land. A swathe of wildflowers will soon emerge as the weather gets warmer and the garden seems to give a sense of cohesion to the quite diverse surrounding community with its cross section of inhabitants ranging from students and new young families to the older generation of working-class families who have lived there for years. Many in the estates have no gardens and The Old Green provides a space for all.

Jam is made from the rosehips; the rest are left for the birds as are pieces of bread hung from the branches. A three-bin compost system offers an opportunity for members of the community to recycle their food waste and witness how the garden and wildlife will reap the benefit. In line with their permaculture beliefs, the project uses low impact materials in the garden and the group recycle wherever possible.

One elderly gentleman who had lived in the area for years commented that he had seen dragonflies flying around for the very first time and frogs have been sighted in the small ponds created on the edge of the garden.

Urban green spaces, such as parks, playgrounds, and residential greenery, can improve mental and physical health and improve life expectancy for urban residents. Outreach programmes will ensure that those living in council housing without gardens or in areas of social disadvantage will be given priority access, facilities and learning opportunities.

Funding from Enjoolata will continue to be spent on training priorities for those who might not have opportunities to access green spaces, with the remainder going towards ongoing maintenance.

Art is not a thing, it is a way.

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By the shipping basin in Portslade there is an old boat yard whose entrance is covered in murals. This is Making It Out whose tagline is ‘Creative alternatives to repeat offending’.

The team at Making It Out design and make furniture, installations and a range of artefacts from small scale pieces to large public art installations. The difference between MIO and a regular studio is that MIO focuses on supporting people who have come from the prison system or are at risk of offending. It is a space where participants can access job opportunities and learn skills in a creative and supportive environment.

On our most recent visit we spent time in the Art Room, a space tucked away in the back, stacked to the ceiling with artworks of all types. The Art Room is a creative hub that actively encourages artistic exploration, focusing on the creative release that comes from experimenting. A place where participants can socialise and learn from each other.

Sean, who started out as a participant with MIO, is now Artistic Development Coordinator of the project and makes his own work at the studio. Sean explained that through ‘creating such allegorical works at the Making It Out studio, whilst also guiding others in their creativity, I hope to bring a realisation of the cathartic and self awareness that any participant can delve into, on any level’.

There is a playful, experimental element to spending time in the Art Room and the first thing Sean hopes for above everything else is ‘the discovery a client might have of the fun of playing and experimenting with artistic methods and materials’.

Al, a participant who was completely new to painting, showed us a vibrant landscape that he had been working on. He said ‘I have learnt to paint by being in the art room with Sean and it is all about having the freedom to explore.There is no right or wrong; if we get anything wrong, we can start again. Sean just gives us the space to get on and if we need help, we can ask for support. That’s where the growth is.’

Sean’s ‘’Razor wire in the blood’ – is a ceramic piece started during his time in prison. We also loved his ‘Lockdown Self-Portrait’ – 30 individual paintings made over 30 different days. The most recent of his works, ‘The 4 Truths – Social, Personal, Universal and Human’, is a series of colourful sculptures exploring the issues of our time through Sean’s lens.

Sean describes this work as a ‘4 piece sculpture representing my views of 4 types of truth. Different coloured clay creatures represented humanity. This work is part of a trilogy that began with ‘Forgiveness’, a series of paintings from 2020 but developed a couple of years earlier. The third artwork was a painting about the positive/negative aspects of ‘Guilt’.

Ty, who had first picked up a pencil and discovered his rare talent in prison, is also continuing his artistic development with MIO. The walls were lined with huge pop art like paintings of famous icons such as Amy Winehouse and members of Oasis and a large scale , detailed self portrait in pencil.

When we asked Ty about this work he said: ‘ I did my self portrait for a competition. I had only been drawing like this for about 2 years. I had never done any art until 2 years ago. I had done some detailed portraits of famous people before but this is my first self-portrait. I found doing it very challenging as it is hard looking at your own face for long periods of time, but at the same time it seemed to come together quite quickly. I added the Mod badge as that shows my interest and it gave the portrait a splash of colour.’

Outsider artists have always offered fresh insight into real life. They create such important documentation of the realities of life, beyond the normal conventions of the art world. It’s amazing to see the creators and the artists of MIO continue this tradition. We are all hoping for an exhibition of these works someday soon!

See an article about our last visit to Making It Out here >

‘Working together to end homelessness’ with Emmaus

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The first Emmaus community was founded in Paris, shortly after WW2 when a man called ​Georges came to Father Henri-Antoine Grouès for help. Georges had just been released from a 21 year prison sentence and his family were unable to cope with the change. Inspired by George’s story and hardship Father Grouès asked Georges to help him build a sanctuary for homeless people like himself, first in the priest’s garden and then on land scrounged and bought.

Georges became the first Emmaus companion. He later said that ‘what I was missing, and what he offered, was something to live for’ and to this day it is a sense of purpose, beyond just sanctuary,  that Emmaus offers to its companions.

Today Emmaus is an international solidarity movement made up of thousands of men and women whose work is motivated by the philosophy ‘Serve first those who suffer most’ and ‘fight against the causes of poverty’.

Set against the backdrop of beautiful and peaceful gardens, Emmaus Brighton is made up of a series of charity shops and a cafe, entirely run by Emmaus companions in an old convent. We visited on the eve of it’s 25th anniversary and it was a hive of activity with a warm and inviting atmosphere.

The bustling cafe offers food throughout the day, a vast emporium offers vintage collectables, the second-hand superstore is packed with bric-a-brak and preloved furniture and the greenhouse offers everything garden related including honey produced by the garden’s bees. The Old chapel has even been creatively decked out into a vintage clothing store by local charity Making It Out who work with people coming from the prison system in need of structured occupational support.

Unlike regular hostels, Emmaus companions work a regular 40-hour week. After three months a companion will get a long weekend off work and receive a week’s holiday after six months. Once a companion has been with the community for over six months they will receive a twenty day holiday alongside regular Public holidays.

Some companions choose to make Emmaus home for a few days and some stay for years. There is no limit and that’s what makes the model so different from other ‘homeless’ accommodation. Besides the training given in the shops and cafe, education and relevant training opportunities are also provided.

It is important that companions stay up to date and build skills to ensure the best chances of finding long-term ways to overcome homelessness  and to manage their own lives by accessing health services and welfare benefits online, managing money and finding work. The computers provide focused, distraction-free tools for companions to achieve this.

Pictured is Emmaus’ companion Steve who was making use of one of the laptops funded through an Enjoolata Community grant.

Windmill Young Actors at The Crew Club

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One of our favourite things about Brighton and Hove is the sense of inclusivity, community and connectedness that is generated by people all around the city collaborating and working together to create positive change.

The Crew Club is a grassroots community led hub nestled at the bottom of the South Downs in Whitehawk, East Brighton, that provides much needed opportunities for young people in the community.

Whitehalk is in the bottom 5% most socially and economically deprived neighbourhoods in the whole of England and despite many people within the community working extremely hard, many can still struggle to provide the bare essentials, let alone be able to provide their children with access to creative opportunities.

The team at Crew Club work tirelessly all year to provide children in the community with access to these opportunities, providing a full programme of free, open access activities aimed at improving their health and emotional and psychological wellbeing.

Windmill Young Actors is an open youth theatre company running weekly classes in Brighton, Hastings and Lewes for young performers between 8 & 12 year olds. They believe that their weekly drama classes help to build confidence, teamwork, focus, imagination and a sense of achievement and belonging. Students get the opportunity to learn from acclaimed scripts and playwrights. They develop their own productions and learn skills from directing, script writing & technical production. They even get the opportunity to take part in the Brighton Fringe Festival.

Last year with funding from Enjoolata Foundation, The East Brighton Trust and Sussex Community Foundation Windmill Young Actors were able to run ‘The Crew Club Theatre’ club once a week for young people in Whitehawk.

A parent of one of the participants said that the classes were “The only thing my son will get off a screen for”.

The Christmas performances of Babayaga and Vasila the Brave were both devised and performed by the young people, celebrating the group’s hard work and creativity.

It’s Our Planet Too Case Study

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It’s Our Planet Too is a social enterprise and educational brand on a mission to inspire children to love and care for our environment.

Founded by Kate, a mum of two in recognition that our children are growing up in a world facing very real challenges, yet are starting to take notice of our impact on the environment. We hope to empower them to become little eco heroes who seek to make a positive change for a greener future.

At It’s Our Planet Too, our vision is for every child to believe that they have the power to protect our planet. But this has to start with gently educating our children (and their families), so considering our environmental impact becomes a way of life and starts to dictate the choices that we all make.

Our website is a resource for children to learn about our planet, the effects that humans are having on it and to discover why some animals are struggling for survival. It has been supported by social media activity and has received some fantastic feedback from both environmental organisations and parents.

A recent social impact survey showed the positive impact we are having within our community; with 82% of respondents being inspired to make a small lifestyle change and specifically, 72% having spoken to their children about the environment as a result of seeing our messages. Over 80% of respondents felt that It’s Our Planet Too had made them more aware of environmental issues.

In late 2021, we launched a range of sustainably and ethically produced children’s products including organic tees, water bottles, bags and fact-filled notebooks that embrace our brand values and key messages and also allow us to give back. We are incredibly proud to support a fabulous charitable venture that is striving for the wildlife rangers working on the ground, protecting the animals that our children love. As a social venture, we pledge to give a minimum of 50% of our profits to good causes.

It’s Our Planet Too is a relatively new organisation, having been incorporated in 2020 yet have already achieved recognition in a number of areas. In early 2021, we were a successful applicant to the Santander Breakthrough Women Business Leaders programme and later on to the prestigious Cambridge Social Ventures incubator, part of the Cambridge Judge Business School. We finished 2021 as a member of Social Enterprise UK, we won Theo Paphitis’ small business Sunday in recognition of our work and started 2022 having been awarded a place on the #ialso list of inspiring business leaders and female founders.

We have some exciting plans for the coming months; we hope to grow our organisation to allow us to make a significant and continued donation to our charity partner, whilst working to improve climate literacy amongst our community and to weave sustainable practices into all that we do.

We are incredibly grateful to the Enjoolata foundation for their support over the past 12 months, their belief in our mission has been fundamental to our work and has underpinned all that we have accomplished so far.