Going Green!
This year we have been fortunate enough to twice collaborate with a local charity called Green Shoes Arts, which specialises in delivering high quality arts projects in Barking & Dagenham and the surrounding area. They were running a brilliant project called Creative Minds, which was funded by NCEL Compass Wellbeing, and their facilitators came to work with some of our young people.
The story begins back in March when our life and social skills youth groups were doing their mental health and wellbeing module, and Green Shoes Arts’ facilitators joined each group to deliver creative health workshops. One group focussed on music, another drama and the third visual art.
The young people thoroughly enjoyed the workshops and a bonus for us was that the visual art sessions led to the creation of a moving art installation which now sits on the outside wall of our hall in Becontree.
Green Shoes Arts facilitator Steve was back in July to run four visual art workshops with our Senior Youth Group, and those sessions have inspired another brilliant art installation which now adorns a wall inside the hall. It is another visually impactive and clever piece of art that can be gently rotated and reconfigured. The Senior Youth Group really enjoyed the creative workshops and gave us some excellent feedback which we passed on to our friends at Green Shoes Arts.
Green Shoes Arts Artistic Director, Sam Miller said “We always have an amazing time at Sycamore Trust, and everyone's creativity and ability to express themselves is wonderful. It's because of organisations like this that we're proud to call Barking & Dagenham our home".
Our Adult & Youth Service Manager, Matt Dyde said “In these challenging times, community groups coming together to support each other is more important than ever and we are going to explore opportunities to work with Green Shoes Arts again in the future. But for now, a big thank you to the management and facilitators at Green Shoes Arts for their collaboration”.
Green Shoes Arts would like to thank NCEL Compass Wellbeing which funded the Creative Minds project.
We would like to thank City Bridge Foundation which funds our Life and Social Skills Programme and GO! London which funded our Senior Youth Group.
If you want to find out more about Green Shoes Arts, you can check out the website at https://www.greenshoesarts.com
