On Wednesday 20th May we welcomed one of our local charities, Bloomin’ Arts, to our club meeting. Ria has been working for the charity for three years and is their first full-time employee. We were delighted not only to hear her speak but to hear the voices of Polly and Joe, two of the students.
Bloomin’ Arts is a creative arts organisation driven by the voice of disabled adults. Everybody is heard, valued and empowered to make choices. Accessibility is a key to what they do encouraging self expression and confidence through art, theatre, dance and media.
They offer numerous courses which are either half or full day and at present have 79 students. Once students have registered with the organisation they can continue taking courses for as long as they wish. At the moment the age range is 19 – 60 years of age and they pride themselves in offering lifelong opportunities.
Bloomin’ Arts believe everyone has huge creative potential. The approach is all about making the art accessible to everyone, no matter what their skill level or physical ability. Small and friendly workshops are led by experienced artists who focus on the students individual skills so they can enjoy a fun and supportive space. They celebrate the students unique take on the courses and encourage them to use their own interpretation of an idea.
The students have an enormous input into their direction of each course and it was obvious from Polly and Joe that this was an extremely important part of their lives. They were so enthusiastic about what they did on their individual courses and delighted in showing us the puppets they had made and used in the production, called the book of Fey, that they presented at Wakehurst..
When Polly was asked what had been the challenges from using the puppets she said “I had to adjust and be challenged”. Isn’t that what we should all be doing all the time? These two young people made us laugh, feel inspired and, without doubt, there were a few damp eyes.
Only 4.8% of people with learning or physical disabilities are employed after full-time education. This is compared to 75% of rest of the general population. We need far more organisations like Bloomin’ Arts.
At a recent SISEE Region meeting we had an excellent presentation from Sarah Jacoby, CEO of Comfort Cases, a charity which provides filled backpacks/holdalls for children in care to provide them with essentials as they go into care or move between foster home, so they have things they can call their own and do not have to transport their possessions from place to place in bin liners.
At the meeting Sarah showed the items that are put in backpacks, she explained that toiletries are put in plastic Ziplock bags to prevent leakage, but said it would be lovely if they could provide drawstring toilet bags for children instead and also material pouches where girls could place their sanitary pads.
East Grinstead Soroptimists have taken this project on board and on 14th May Helen and Jane started producing the cases. We hope to produce far more in the future.
While the comfort cases were being made another group of us were looking at our Programme Action activities. By the time this photo was taken most people had left and we were just clearing away.
A big thanks to Jane for hosting the event and producing delicious cake and coffee!
On the 9th May Anne and Jane were at Lingfield Nature Reserve tending Dame Judy Dench’s roses. They were ably assisted by Jane’s grandsons, Teddy and Arthur who spread the compost around the roses.