This week, one of the long-standing visitors to the office is working on a project. They are creating art but, in sitting with their remarkable mathematic thinking, it’s a piece of pixel art. Hundreds of small wooden cubes are hand-painted in a variety of colours and then organised in a frame to recreate a famous face.
They have a plan, once this proof of concept is complete, to offer a unique artistic service. A kind of living art. Should you have a child, you can provide the artist with a portrait, which they will recreate in the pixel style, and then in 5 years’ time when the child has grown you can return the art and have it updated to mirror their current visage and so on.
It is an idea of excellent ingenuity, it creates a fabulous talking piece for the owner and repeat custom for the artist.
Everyone through our door has a talent and a desire to share that talent with the community.
I remember meeting a young gentleman who, in his home country before civil war broke out, could build a house in a week. He is, by all accounts, an incredible bricklayer. After he’d made the journey here, his only desire was to work hard, build homes, pay his taxes and become a valued member of society.
Naturally he faced setbacks, a language barrier, housing and the unique requirement in this country for a certificate of some kind, so he got to work.
He attended and passed all 3 levels of the ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) course, he enrolled in an NVQ that he could have passed with his eyes closed and, with our support, secured a 2-year tenancy, giving him time to gain his certificate, find work and become financially independent.
Then there’s the woman who came to us in a mental health crisis so severe that, after a very unfortunate series of events that left her out of work and out of her accommodation, she had attempted suicide.
After she joined the Access Project, she did not stop moving. She volunteered locally, she enrolled in college with the hopes of completing an introduction to social care, she has since engaged with other employment support services and interviewed for a variety of jobs, and is volunteering almost full-time.
These are just 3 examples of the drive and dedication of the people we support, and support is the operative word here.
We don’t exist to drop people into houses with a wave and a hope for the best. Our work is holistic, enduring and deeply personal. Every story is someone’s life, a person who has been cast adrift by society, systems and circumstance. Sometimes we are the lifeboat and sometimes we are the lighthouse, but every time we are there.
Be there with us, join the Big Sleep Out or the 24-Hour Challenge or simply start a small regular donation, the people we support need you.
