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Enjoolata Foundation

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.

Hollie’s story volunteering for Time to Talk Befriending

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“I began my volunteering journey with “Time to Talk Befriending” back in July 2020. I joined as I wanted to connect with the local community during a time where I recognised through my job the immense amount of social isolation members of our local community had during the beginnings of the pandemic. Creating connections with others is a part of our human essence and this is where I found TTTB.

After talking with TTTB to understand my interests and who I am (very much like a dating app!) I was matched to the wonderful Ivy. The time taken by TTTB to assess our chemistry allowed Ivy and I to hit it off so quickly. Initially our telephone conversations were only 15 mins but now nearly after 2 years they have blossomed to wonderful marathons much to Ivy’s surprise! We speak about anything and everything, nothing ever feels forced and if one of us isn’t up for the call that day we don’t do it. After every call, not only do I feel connected, but I also feel a sense of belonging and pride. Although our chats are only once a week, I know the positive impact it has not only on Ivy’s mental health but mine too. By building this relationship with my ‘befriendee’ I have been able to make a powerful connection with my community, that small difference to brighten someone’s day. Joining the TTTB volunteers has also changed my mindset in my everyday life by stepping into someone else’s shoes and what small changes I can make to their day to make it easier for them.

Two years on and I’m still excited to have my call every week, ready to hear the next story from Ivy. I encourage anyone reading this today that if this is something that you’re interested in absolutely go for it, it’s definitely up there with one of the best things I have ever done!”

Community Ping-Pong at Brighton Table Tennis Club

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Brighton Table Tennis Club was founded in 2007 with ‘the strong belief that table tennis can be used as a powerful tool in engaging people of all ages and transforming lives’. Tucked away in a buzzing sports hall off a side street in Kemptown, a melting pot of players come together. Here, the game is being used as the catalyst for building confidence, friendship, skills and community between people from diverse backgrounds, breaking down barriers and prejudice.

Brighton Tennis Club Match

BTTC started as a small grassroots project with only two old tables and now welcomes over 1,500 people to play in the club’s weekly sessions. The club primarily invites people who are marginalised to play, but also focuses on being inclusive to all and welcomes people with learning disabilities, young people from the Brighton Travellers’ site, Looked After Children, people with physical disabilities, people from the LGBT community and young asylum seekers, ranging from  2 to 98 years old!

As an example of their work BTTC write that ‘ Harry, Chris and Andrew are the first people with Down’s syndrome in any sport to gain a level one coaching qualification – all of them play and volunteer at the club.’ BTTC also have an extensive outreach programme which includes working weekly in prisons, coaching players to gain a table tennis qualification and are also the first sports club in the world to be awarded the status of ‘Club of Sanctuary’ in recognition of their support of Brighton’s refugee community.

Last year Enjoolata Foundation awarded BTTC a grant so that they could set up free pre and after-school sessions for local primary aged children. BTTC asked teachers to nominate children that they thought would most benefit from sessions – children in receipt of free school meals, children in care and those they think have really struggled during lock down. The project gives these children the opportunity to play in what might be their only extracurricular club, giving both them and their parents/carers the confidence to get involved in new activities. The project will continue through until April this year. To find out more about BTTC visit their website here.

Interview with young apprentice Arthur Purdue at Jamie’s Farm, Lewes

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During our recent visit to Jamie’s Farm, Lewes we met Arthur. After visiting a couple of times with his school, Arthur was selected to become the Lewes farms second apprentice. We interviewed Arthur to find out more about his involvement on the farm and the impact that it’s had on him. 

When did you first come to Jamie’s Farm and why? 

I first came to Jamie’s Farm when I was about 10. I wasn’t enjoying school and it was a struggle at times. I also thought it would be good to get away from home for a bit: I had never stayed away from home before

Where do you live? 

I live in London

Why did you become an Ambassador? 

I became an Ambassador because I loved doing the residential trips to the farms and I loved learning more and more about what happens and how it all happens. 

What does being an Apprentice involve and what’s your favourite thing about it? 

Being an Apprentice involves spending a week with the young people who visit and joining in their sessions and encouraging them to get involved and stuck into something they may have never tried before and making sure they have a great week.  

Why did you apply? 

I applied because I loved spending time on the farm and helping young people and I love learning new things about the animals and being able to share my experience with the young people.

What would you like to do for a job when you are older? 

When I am older I would either like to work with animals or with young people in an outside setting.

Has Jamie’s farm helped you develop any new skills and interests? 

Jamie’s farm has really helped me in my confidence and really gave me the chance to see what I could do.

What’s your favourite thing to do when you are at the farm? 

My favourite thing to do at the farm would have to be getting to learn about all the animals.

Read more about our involvement with Jamie’s Farm, Lewes here https://enjoolata.org/farming-family-therapy-at-jamies-farm/

Farming, Family & Therapy at Jamie’s Farm

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Towards the end of last year, we visited Jamie’s Farm, a traditional red brick farmhouse in the picturesque Sussex countryside just outside Lewes.

Jamie’s Farm in Lewes is no ordinary farm. It is one of a group of similar farms across the country that transform the lives of vulnerable children between the ages of 10-16 by working closely with partner schools, providing a combination of ‘farming, family and therapy’ through a unique residential and follow-up programme.

The goal of Jamie’s Farm is to ‘re-engage children with educational life and enable them to fulfil their potential both in school and the wider social setting’. It acts as a catalyst for change, enabling disadvantaged young people to thrive academically, socially and emotionally.

Social and academic exclusion are real problems affecting young people in the UK today. There are worries about the effects of children becoming disconnected from their natural surroundings, especially those from BAME or low-income families.

In a report from Jamie’s Farm, one young person from a local college said, “In a normal week, I just stay inside, but here I get to be outside, help out the animals, and be active. It’s taught me the importance of good teamwork and communication.”

As a society, our growing relationship with technology can play havoc with our connection to nature and each other and Jamie’s Farm tackles this by asking their young visitors to leave their phones at home, instead opting for communal co-operative and nature-based activities such as farm work, gardening, group walks over the downs, caring for the farms’ animals and playing music together around a campfire.

Jamie’s Visitors come from diverse backgrounds, and guests are invited to cook healthy home-cooked meals together in the cosy farmhouse. Recipe ideas from home are welcomed, contributing to a really healthy cross-cultural and all-inclusive environment. The visits are also a valuable opportunity for teachers to get away from the stresses of everyday life and form better relationships with individual students and the entire group, outside the formal school setting.

Through other funding opportunities, the farm has also taken a more regenerative farming approach by adopting a rotational cropping regime and planting 1,500 metres of new hedges to support local habitat.

Enjoolata Foundation awarded £10,000 to Jamie’s Farm in April 2021 to convert a disused ‘duck house’ farm building into a multi-purpose space that will be used for one to one meetings and group sessions. It will transform visits for many of the young people who visit, offering a safe and inviting space to discuss any issues that arise. The new building will be completed later this year.

When not being used for visits, all farmhouses can be rented for holidays. This allows the farms to contribute towards the finances of the charity and allows anyone to take a rural break that also gives back!

To find out more, visit Jamie’s Farm website.