Grant Winners January 2007

The Sharpham Collective are in a court battle fighting against their eviction from a travellers site. Their grant was used to fund their defence case. The legal battle has wider implications for Travellers in Mendip as they are challenging what they believe to be illegal council policy.

Homeplus is a day centre based in Belfast, set up by and for migrant workers. They provide essentials such as food, clothes, sleeping bags, shavers etc. Homeplus have also an emergency fund to be used for access to accommodation in a crisis situation. The grant will up the opening hours from one to three days per week.

A homeless man in Bristol has formed a photography group for other homeless people. Most photography of homeless people is from a voyeuristic point of view, from the outside in. Rarely from the other way round. The group intend to address this by learning how to take photos themselves and depict homelessness from the point of view of the person experiencing it. They will then put on an exhibition to raise awareness of the issue and empower the participants. The grant will pay for photographic equipment and meeting costs.

The young women at a specialist mothers & baby hostel run by St John’s Trust in Lowestoft have got together to create a gym in their own project. Due to child care issues and the big expense, the women at the project have no access to the local gyms, but they care about their own health and wanted to do something about it. It is only a short stay hostel, so they know the gym will get used by many other residents after they have moved on. The grant has bought a cross trainer, a rowing machine and an exercise bike.

Stonewall Housing runs six houses run for young homeless LGBT people. The residents have got together to  create a Resident Forum, involving people from all six hostels. They have written their own constitution, and have started meetings. Their grant will be used to set up a newsletter, and to make posters and leaflets to advertise the group to all residents.

Sam Haggarty lives on a Traveller site with seven other families which currently has no direct access to water. The group are going to dig two trenches themselves and work with Southern Water to arrange piping freshwater direct to the site. The money will pay for a mechanical digger for four days and the appropriate materials for filling the trenches.

A group of peer volunteers with the Glasgow Simon Community, are setting up an information library on all services for homeless people in Glasgow. There is currently a need for a central pool of information, particularly describing services from a service user’s point of view. They will ensure that the data is in a simple accessible format. They already have a computer and are using their grant to buy a printer, discs, stationary and software to enable the library to get up and running.

Don-Desperado Music is an independent record label created by residents of the Kipper Project young people’s hostels in East London. They want to use their business to help other disadvantaged people to develop their skills making music, and helping people get their music out into the world. They are using their award to purchase CD and video production equipment, editing software and promotional materials for their endeavours.

New Beginnings are a group of lone parent refugees who want to better understand how do deal with the housing and benefits problems that many of the group are facing. They want to send the two most fluent English speakers onto a range of benefits and welfare advice training courses. These two emissaries will then bring their knowledge back to the group, translating materials where necessary. The grant will be used to fund the training courses' fees.

Farafigna are a group of five homeless and ex-homeless people who have created a show involving trapeze, visual projections, juggling, stilt-walking and acrobatics. They have been commissioned and part-funded by Ten Feet Away Festival 2007, a homeless arts festival. The group  also provide circus courses for other homeless and  ex-homeless provide. The grant is to be used to pay for walking stilts, juggling equipment and a projector for use in their performance and in their training courses.

Jon is a Traveller who is a self-taught self-employed mechanic. He currently services vehicles for travellers and other vehicle users on an ad hoc basis but wants to professionalise his business by setting up a permanent garage .He offers low cost high skilled mechanic work. He is using his grant to pay for workshop space for 6 months, a heavy duty axel stand and a large trolley jack. He hopes that after this period, the profits from the business will be able to keep the workshop up and running.

SMUG is a user led organisation set up by and for drug & alcohol users in Camden. They asked Groundswell to fund the start-up costs of a newsletter. Their award will buy a printer with duplex, 2 x cartridges, stationery, postage & some research fares.

Re-Fried Fuels are a group of travellers in the process of setting up a small bio diesel plant that encompasses both the recycling of waste vegetable oil from the catering industry and the production of a recognised renewable alternative to diesel. Their money will buy the equipment required to set up the venture.