Talking Action Factory!

Watch this space

2012-02-22T14:40:00.003Z

21/02/12
After contemplating the day spent at a seminar on developing digital arts I realised just how much we are doing right. At first I was a little impatient with the event as I felt it was aimed a lot lower than my current knowledge of the area. But after a very inspirational talk by Esko Reinikainen I am left feeling “Yes! We are on the right track!”

Image, courtesy of Adrian Barber
As an organisation we rejected the typical hierarchical structure most businesses employ. This was a risk because often the first question people ask is “who is the company manager?” or “who is your CEO?”. When you reply “we are non hierarchical organisation we have no manager”, you can see first confusion, then scepticism on their faces.

For the past two years as an organisation we have been trialling an agile structure with shared responsibility. Although agile enterprises by definition include numerous, constantly co-evolving and moving parts, they do require some structure. We work to our strengths with each staff member having an overall responsibility for different aspects of our work. This work is then shadowed by a second staff member providing support and the sharing of knowledge. So far it’s working well but we know we have a lot further to go in convincing the general populace of it’s dynamic value.

Esko Reinikainen 's talk and a recent radio 4 piece on similar socially aware business models made me realise that it may be risky to innovate but it’s worth it if you know it’s the right thing to do.

As a new team in an old organisation we have a lot to do and a very short time to prove ourselves, so watch this space.

So much to do

2012-02-04T16:52:00.000Z

Since the New Year things have got really busy at Action Factory. There is so much going on, much of it revolving around taking Action Factory to a new level. It’s this year that our funding from the Arts Council ends. We are very sad that we are no longer part of the Arts Council’s regularly funded portfolio, but you know I think it’s doing us good.

It’s meant that we have had to take a good long hard look at who we are and what we do. It’s meant that we have had to explore other ways of bringing in income that sits well with our charity status, and it’s meant that we pull together as a team like we have never done so before. And we are not doing too bad and I for one am enjoying it!

Alongside writing a very important bid application and the refinement of our programme of work, my role has been developing a new website for Action Factory, one with a fresher look and a bit more relevant content. The intention is that we will blog about our work and projects so that other people can make comments and also so they can be easily databased using the categories and tags available on blogs. It will be down to you the reader to see if that works.

The bid is coming along nicely. Lucy has really stuck her teeth into it and is moving it along at a pace. We’ ve met with the arts officer at our local authority to go through it and put in some long hours on the development of the content. We will deserve some days off when it is done.We have also been talking to various people about taking space in the Action Factory. Nothing to announce yet, but we are hoping to share the building with some new people soon. Anyone who would like to join us – work space and office space is available.

Our work continues alongside. Kerry is a never ending whirr as she dashes from commitment to commitment, and Nicole has been continuing her drama with literacy work as she starts another term with a new year group. The Action Factory Youth Theatre has started up again, and are working towards a performance at the end of March.Plans are now afoot for a week of activities to celebrate World Community Arts Day later this month, kicking off with a love theme for stall at Radio Lancs on Valentine’s Day.

2012 is going to one of the most challenging yet for Action factory, but the team is working together like never before, ready to take this organisation to the next stage in its development.

Trust

2012-01-12T21:10:00.001Z

I have been thinking today about how much of our lives is dependent on trust. As I write, I am sat on a train, in a backward facing seat and outside is total blackness. I have to trust that the train is in good working order, the track is ok under the train, the driver knows what he is doing and all the points are set right so we don't go headlong into another. So much of our life is like this.

Sometimes its hard to stand up
and face the world !

Of course, the work we do at Action Factory also asks people to trust us. We are not out there teaching someone how to draw or act. What we are about is developing a relationship where a person or a group can feel safe. Because generally the people we deal with need a bit of support. Our groups are very diverse as we work with people disadvantaged in some way. We offer a respite from the high toll of modern life and the problems that can throw up.

In my short time at Action Factory, I have seen many people come through the door battered by what life has chosen to throw at them. Sometimes it takes a few hours sometimes longer, but generally that person walks out a little taller, with less strain showing on their face and a sense of confidence and positiveness that enables them to cope with the rough seas of their life. And that's why working at Action Factory has made me stand a bit taller, and face my own rough seas a little better.

LCFT Christmas Event

2011-12-14T09:31:00.002Z

Getting creative!

I attended an NHS Christmas event today and had a great time. I was surprised at how many people I knew although perhaps it’s not that strange as I have been working with Lancashire Care Foundation Trust a lot recently. I even met a nurse who is coming to the team building day on Friday at Action Factory. There were a few confused faces as I enthusiastically waved at people until we all realised that I’ve cut all my hair off so look quite different.

I laughed out loud when I saw the guys on the sexual health stand they were dressed up as elves…. Get it? Sexual Elf!

Recently I was commissioned by LCFT to create an art piece for the new mental health facility in Blackpool, so I was there ‘forcing’ people to be creative and contributing to the piece. If I had a pound for every time I heard someone say “oh no, I’m not creative” and then see them create something they are proud of; I’d be driving an Audi.

Julian signing out

2011-12-01T06:50:00.005Z

Lucy and Julian enjoying a moment at Action Factory

It is now becoming wider knowledge that Julian Dunn will be taking voluntary redundancy and leaving Action Factory at the end of this year, after over 26 years committed work. Lucy, Nicole, Kerry and myself are steeling ourselves for life at Action Factory without Julian Dunn. Never mind all the hard work he puts in, who will pick out pertinent stories from the Guardian and keep us up to date! Who will turn the lights out after us and collect all the pots for washing up!

Seriously though, Julian has been a tour de force and been involved in communities, the local voluntary networks and many schemes and projects over the last 26+ years, he has touched many people's lives and landscapes. He is one of the stalwarts of the community arts scene, trailblazing the use of art to bring together disparate groups of people and bring a new postiivism to individuals who have been disadvantaged by circumstance.

We are currently collating feedback from contacts he has made during his time in Blackburn with the intention of creating some sort of tribute to him. Please help us by sending in comments, observations or messages to jwindley@actionfactory.org. There are only weeks to go so don't delay, please get your contributions to us by Wednesday 7th December 2011.

Did you work with us in the past? did you have work experience or volunteer? Did you commission a project? Were you one of the participants in a project? If so, we would love to hear from you.

Julian, surprisingly, does not want a big do to celebrate the end of his tenure at Action Factory, maybe we should not listen to his pleas for a quiet departure. However, his last day in Action Factory is 23rd December 2011, and you are welcome to pop in and pass on your good wishes.

As you all know, Julian is irreplaceable! And we have no plans to replace him, his work will be shared out amongst the team. He does promise to help us out and his association with Action Factory may continue on a voluntary basis.

Hello again!

2010-02-08T15:54:00.007Z

Haven't been updating this for a while-oops! At least there's lots to say...

Projects are developing further. We have been successful with the Woven Cultures funding application (connected with the Cultural Olympiad) and have a project running now called 'Something Beautiful.'

This project involves young people and adults from specific community groups as well as the general public within Blackburn, telling us about their ideas of beauty. There will be work on display in various unusual places on 13th March at a celebration event to tie in with the Empty Shop project at the Pavilion in the town centre. For more info on the Empty Shop events visit www.popblackburn.co.uk and keep an eye on the Action Factory website.... (www.actionfactory.org)

Other news: I attended the Refugee Week Conference in London on 22nd January. They are continuing their very successful Simple Acts campaign. Twenty small actions have been suggested for anyone to take to show their support for those seeking sanctuary-just let them know you have done them! More info at: http://www.refugeeweek.org.uk/simple-acts

On 17th February, we have World Community Arts Day at Action Factory's base in Blackburn and am keeping fingers crossed that we have decent weather, as we are expecting lots of people to attend.

Summer Holiday Activities

2009-08-18T14:45:00.005+01:00

The sessions at Wesley Hall have been going really well with the adults. Of course, now that the Summer Holidays are in full swing, the workers are occasionally looking a bit 'frazzled' to say the least, as there are hordes of children to entertain.

The Families Worker asked me if there was anything I could do to help occupy the older children for the remainder of the holidays, so I was happy to oblige... So, armed with a basic plan of games and drama exercises connected with the sea (a relevant theme-they were planning a trip to the seaside!) I arrived to find a room full of children, happily colouring cards and pictures. I felt awful asking them to move everything around and come away from such a calm exercise, but I'd travelled by train and taxi from Manchester (quite expensive!) and rushed to be there on time, so I was determined to do something!

There was a real sense of excitement as we began some simple games to warm up and get everyone working together. When I later asked for volunteers to help carry an imaginary treasure chest across the room, several hands shot up - even the older boys - then, when I asked who had the key, even more people wanted to join in the game of 'make-believe'.

As the session progressed, a few of the parents wandered in from the next room to see what was happening and ended up staying to join in, calling out suggestions and getting quite involved!

Towards the end, crowding around the juice, biscuits and fruit, I asked if they were enjoying the workshop and if they would like to do any more and one of the girls' memorable reply was: "Yes! A thousand, thousand more..."

So all the rushing and taxi fare was worth it. They want me back again this Thursday.

Exodus Festival and SEMA Summer Project

2009-08-12T16:20:00.006+01:00

Well, it's been busy again since I last posted - so that's why it's taken so long!

The Exodus Festival was a good experience, because it was a totally different way of working. I would normally work with a large group, trying to energise them, get them to know each other and warm up before we did a practical session. However, on 2nd August, I was there as a support for Mok Bukuakow, our 'PlAAy' Residency artist, helping with any language needs, as well as filling in monitoring and feedback forms, so I was able to observe. We only had three people at a time for our session, sitting opposite us and talking about childhood toys, then drawing and /or making them out of clay. It was a much quieter, more reflective experience than my drama workshops. There were some similarities in that I was able, by gentle questioning, to encourage people to speak and become more confident. People (especially young people and adults) are constantly worried that their stories are not interesting enough, but, after showing a genuine interest in description, memory, etc, they began to enjoy talking, sketching and modelling. The younger children tended to be much more open, enjoying the experience of the modelling, although one or two didn't like the wet feel and the residue it left on their hands.

The SEMA Summer Project was a complete contrast; older Primary and lower Secondary School pupils who come from refugee /asylum seeking families are given learning support via SEMA. This year, a two day project was provided for those who were able to attend, with activities such as drumming, art and craft, surveys and two drama sessions from Action Factory, through me. As they were fairly short sessions, we had to use fairly simple techniques - improvisation and physical creation of objects and stories. The end results were really creative, though. We had a story about a washing machine that used all the river and drained the forest and how this was solved; a magical bird who brought a king back to life and a group who had to overcome amazing obstacles to reach a party in a palace.

Language barriers were occasionally an issue, but the good humour of the group and sensitivity of the workers helped overcome this and there was a really positive reaction to the work. I am keen to extend work with this group in the future, involving other art forms as well as drama.

Photo Mok Buakaow and participant.

A rainy day in Blackburn

2009-07-28T17:09:00.002+01:00

The new woman from last week did not turn up for the session today, which was a real shame, as she had made a point of telling me how much she had enjoyed it all. She also came over to me in Blackburn centre this morning and said she was planning to come later on. So something else came up, maybe? Hopefully nothing too serious. Possibly the horrible weather.... Where did the Summer go????

This is just one of the aspects of Community Arts that can be so frustrating - you don't always get consistent groups. Also, when you are working with vulnerable groups, in whichever situation that might be, there are often a lot of factors completely outside your control. People's accommodation, appointments with solicitors / social workers / finance / family issues, etc, etc, etc, often mean (understandably) that your arts session is not the most important thing in people's lives. Although, they may well get alot from it when they are able to attend. So maybe she will come another week - I hope so.

The good news was that, despite her absence, I still had a good number (seven) which included two men who had never been before. We did a mix of activities today - some physical, competitive games as well. One which, I am pleased to say, we had done the previous week and was requested by one of the less confident women. She appears happy to do more active exercises and gets very shy and giggly when asked to speak. However, she has the ability, so it is just a confidence issue. We did some physical work then storytelling exercises today and later combined the two. With the storytelling, some of them were excellent at this (particularly the two men who were new today; so expressive and descriptive - it was really beautiful to listen at times) but the two women struggled initially. They became more able to contribute in a later exercise which used the same skill, so I think it is just a case of gently persisting and encouraging.

Anyway, despite one or two struggling, there was a lot of laughter today. We created some surreal stories - with elements of fairy tales and Alice in Wonderland at times (I ended up being a rabbit who ate a man's carrot cake!) so it was very entertaining, as well as encouraging their speaking and listening skills.

Tomorrow, I'll be working with children and young people from refugee / asylum seeker families, so we'll see how they respond.

A good day

2009-07-27T14:14:00.001+01:00

The latest session at Wesley Hall was great. There was a new woman there who was really keen to participate and enjoy it all and this also had a positive effect on the less confident ones. We did a lot more active, energetic warm up exercises and then used various props to improvise different characters and situations. It was a smaller group, as the regular English class is not running for a few weeks. This was something that was a concern for me and I'd wondered whether to cancel my sessions during these weeks, but eventually decided to continue for anyone who wanted to come.

It was actually a very friendly, relaxed atmosphere and people seemed really willing to 'play'. We ended up doing small scenes in groups using the props and created a wedding scene and a family holiday. Both scenes involved a lot of humour. At the end, one participant asked if we could do a performance, which is something I have tentatively mentioned, but not wanted to push, so that reinforced the idea that their confidence is building. One man was concerned that people would not understand his English, but I reassured them that we can use a mix of verbal and visual work, as well as possibly incorporating different languages. We'll see what happens next session (tomorrow!)

The Exodus festival, run by Community Arts Northwest, is on Sunday (2nd August) in Manchester, so am hoping a few of them will go and we'll all get inspired together.....

Info on Exodus if you're interested - it's free and worth a visit:

Exodus Festival Sunday 2^nd August 2009 12-6pm

Urbis and Cathedral Gardens

Come and join us in this unique celebration of arts and culture brought to you by Greater Manchester’s diverse refugee communities.

Featuring traditional and contemporary sounds and dance from Zimbabwe, Somalia, the DR Congo, Eritrea, Uganda, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Kurdistan, Pakistan, and other countries across the globe.

There will be interactive workshops, children’s activities, delicious food from around the globe, and an exciting array of world craft stalls.

Drop in time

2009-07-16T13:48:00.001+01:00

The sessions have been going on at the Wesley Hall Tuesday Drop In (a service for Refugees and Asylum Seekers) for six weeks now and I'm getting a steady number of participants each week - between eight and eleven, which is a good number. I work in collaboration with the English Teacher, which gives me more potential for participants as well as support and gives him support as well, along with practical techniques for encouraging communication skills.

We do a mixture of warm up exercises and basic Drama skills, sometimes creating scenes, other times using different stimuli to start off conversation and encourage communication.

It's one of the nicest groups-adults are quite often surprised by what they can do when they have the opportunity-and although sometimes exercises take longer than they would do with a group who all shared one language, the fact that everyone is from a different cultural background adds interest. They learn from one another and are keen to help one another as well.

I am learning a lot from them, too.

Hello

2009-07-10T10:50:00.002+01:00

This is my new blog. Welcome!

I am working for Action Factory as Community Arts Development Worker. My job is to develop projects with Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Blackburn with Darwen, as well as look at work that brings different community groups together; people from different backgrounds, beliefs, experiences.

I'm using this blog as a way of showing people how I'm getting along. It's going to be an honest look at the work and positives as well as any problems /frustrations.

I'll try and update it as regularly as I can.

I hope you'll find it interesting!