Always great to work with Smoke Creatives on Here, the Shelter supporter mag.
They sent me to one of Shelter’s furniture shops in Birmingham. I was delighted to discover that six members of the same family – over three generations – work and volunteer in the shop, reflecting the dedication that Shelter inspires.
Lots of updates due……latest piece for Waterfront, the Canal & River Trust mag, was a lovely day spent with Birmingham photographer Andrew Jackson asking the good people of the Midlands why they love their canals.
The Big Issue in the North asked me to write a supplement, in partnership with the international charity ActionAid, to publicise their work tackling child poverty and encourage people to become child sponsors.
I wrote and sourced all the articles and case studies, and worked with a designer to create an engaging format for the information.
The supplement was inserted in all editions of the Big Issue nationally.
In 2010, I was commissioned by the Lancashire Global Education Centre to edit and write their Global Dimensions magazine, featuring stories of how schools can include international issues and learning in their teaching.
The magazine was used as a resource for schools throughout the North West.
This report, toolkit and website, www.agoodsociety.org, was commissioned by Churches Together in Britain & Ireland (CTBI).
The project used my photography, audio and words, and I worked with a team of web and graphic designers.
The project documented the UK’s ‘Good Society’; the thousands of people who are committed to ensure that those on the margins are included, cared for and supported.
A copy of the full report is here, while the toolkit is available here.
Working with a researcher, I travelled to seven very different UK destinations – Cornwall, Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool, Belfast, Newcastle and Swansea – to investigate the views of those working at a local level.
All are working to tackle different social issues; be it homelessness, worklessness, conflict, mental health problems, religious and ethnic tensions, poverty, lack of access to services, old age or merely loneliness.
I also organised a launch event, gaining media coverage in the Guardian and Christian Today.
In August 2012, Church Action on Poverty asked me to produce a short book that would inspire people to start community organising.
The document, funded by the Young Foundation’s Building Local Activism programme, featured case studies, photographs and personal testimonies about the impact of community organising from across the UK.
Focusing on the work of four organisations – Birmingham Citizens, Together Creating Communities Wrexham, Thrive Teesside and Thrive Manchester – the resource illustrated how community organising has been used to tackle a huge range of issues, including school exclusions, mental health, and debt.
To download the complete book, click here
