The Hope Centre

Yesterday (27th February) we had our meeting at The Hope Centre, Bradford. Unfortunately Julie and Ben couldn't make it so we just met with June. She began by showing us around the centre which was part of the Inn Churches scheme and was currently having its turn playing host to 12 individuals in need of shelter during the winter months. We looked around the sleeping areas which were warm and welcoming (see photo below). I noticed how they had all put the few belongings they had out on display, using the windowsills as shelves and the chairs as places to neatly hand their clothes. The respect they had for their belongings reaffirmed that we should really take time and care to make these items special for the receivers to cherish.

After looking around we went and had a brew (thanks June!) and discussed our ideas for the project. Our idea for including a tag or booklet with each item to explain it's journey went down a treat! She was really interested in the idea of donation boxes and suggested that we could put one in The Hope Centre as well as at Inn Churches HQ but thought this would be good as a supporting method of gaining materials alongside actual workshops. It was mentioned that the workshops would work well on several levels including:

- Engaging otherwise isolated individuals with a wider community project while encouraging social engagement.

- Raising awareness of the work done by Inn Churches.

- Being able to source primary research about the fabrics while engaging directly with a wider community.

June also mentioned it may be a idea to work with children on the project and that she had a contact named Gaby Young who runs a after school group and may be interested in us running some workshops there. She's going to contact Gaby and let us know what she thinks. Rhi suggested that we could perhaps run drawing workshops with them and transform their images into textiles using sublimation printing.

We agreed that the final date for completing any workshops would be the 4th April in order to leave ourselves enough time to create the items. June is going to contact Julie Mord about potentially working with the Live at Home group and Gaby about working with the after school club.

I feel like a lot of progress has been made during today's meeting and that the project is really heading in a positive direction in terms of really engaging with the community!

Group Meeting

Today we had a group meeting to refine our ideas before going to the Hope Centre tomorrow. I feel like it's very important for us to turn up with as much clarity about how our ideas will be realised in order to reflect this being a professional live brief.

We again discussed the donation boxes and agreed it would be beneficial to run some sort of workshop to encourage donations. We also discussed unfinished samples and fabrics we have which we love but are unable to use and how we could use these to get going with the production of items while waiting for donations to come in.

I raised to the group that I was still a little nervous about not getting enough donations to really give the items a story. I suggested that we could perhaps run workshops which encouraged a wider community to engage in textiles crafts. As myself and Rhi specialise in embroidery and Claire in weave we disscussed how we could run embroidery workshops (Claire also has some knowledge of the specialism) which would allow participants to create samples which could be formed into items for the packs using stitch or weave. We would include a label with each item explaining who had contributed which would translate the amount of time and care invested in the objects. This could be another option for a workshop with the Live at Home group should they be interested in taking part in the project.

I feel much better about going to Bradford to present our ideas tomorrow. By turning up with two options we can get feedback from the clients and see which they feel would work best in terms of having a positive impact. Tomorrow we will also inquire about the potential of working with the Live at Home group and whether they believe our plan to run a workshop is something which they will want to engage in. I'm very excited for our meeting tomorrow now we have two clear ideas to present to the clients!

Feedback

Today (25th February) we had a meeting with Claire (our tutor for this module) to discuss our initial thoughts for the project. It was raised by Claire that it would be ideal for us to come up with a concept with longevity so Inn Churches could continue our work easily once the project had passed (or we could continue working on it ourselves should we wish to continue working with the project).

The other main points we discussed included:

Donation Boxes - Would this be practical? One of the worries I had was whether this would generate enough materials for us to create a substantial amount of products to be included in the home starter packs. Claire had mentioned that Inn Churches had connections with a 'Live At Home' group. Live At Home is a organisation which allows elderly individuals who live independently at home to get together a few days a week and participate in various activities, the intention being to combat the isolation these individuals can sometimes experience. We decided it may be a good idea to utilise this contact and perhaps put on a workshop with them where they could bring in samples and fabrics with a story behind them for donation. They could tell the group about why it's special to them in exchange for tea and cake!

Social Media - Could we use social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to raise the profile of the project and encourage donations from a wider community?

The Story - Claire was really supportive of the idea of each object having a personal story and how this could convey the time and care taken by so many people to make that object unique. This has become the key concept within our project as it will really allow us to capture how special the pieces are. It will make each one like a one of a kind piece of art for their home.

I think the meeting really got us thinking about our idea and how we still need to get a little clarity on things before we go to our meeting with June, Juli and Ben at the Hope Centre on Thursday! The base concept feels really strong but I feel like how we're going to carry it out is really cloudy at the moment and we need to have another meeting as a group to really clarify what we plan to do before our meeting on Thursday!

Generating Ideas!

Earlier this week (19th Feb) we had our first meeting as a group with the aim of generating ideas for the project in preparation for our meeting with June, Julie and Ben at the Hope Centre, Bradford next week.

We all agreed that we wanted to aim to create objects for the Home Starter Pack. This way we could actually impact on the lives of the individuals receiving the objects by hopefully reassuring them with a comforting object embedded with sentimental value through the use of craft. To achieve personal value within a inanimate object we agreed that it would be beneficial to get different members of the community involved. The volume of people taking time to get involved with the project would create a real feeling of care. This idea was developed and we decided we could use donation boxes to collect various materials with sentimental value or a story. Tags would be provided next to the boxes allowing those donating to explain a little about why their donation is special and where it has come from. The information from these tags would be relayed using a gift label on the final item, allowing each object to have its own unique story.

Items we would hope to receive would include:

- fabric swatches/samples. The samples could also be ones which individuals have started but perhaps not had the time to complete.

- good quality clothing which is no longer of use.

- threads

- embellishments

We then thought about where we could put the donation boxes to allow us to reach a wider community. Some would involve communication with other businesses such as fabric shops as donation boxes in these locations would be seen by individuals who are interested in crafts and likely to have interest in getting involved with a community textiles project. These locations included:

- Fabworks, Dewsbury

- Samuel Taylors, Huddersfield Market

- University Campus, within the Textiles, Costume and Fashion departments

- Inn Churches, Bradford

- The Hope Centre, Bradford

We would then divide the donations between ourselves to be turned into objects for the Home Starter Packs such as cushions, blankets, draft excluders and lamp shades. Each with a gift tag explaining it's individual journey conveying the care the wider community has put into creating the item. We also discussed the idea of potentially using smaller fabric swatches to create Sewing Kits which would allow individuals to repair worn through clothes and other items while stitching in a fabric piece with a unique story.

Team Building

This week I found out I would be working with Rhiannon and Claire on the Home Starter Pack Project. I'm very pleased with my team as we have worked together in previous projects which have involved very short time scales so I think we will be able to achieve a lot in the time given. It feels like a slight head start that we have experience of how each of us work and what our personal strengths are. Our lecture this week looked at key skills for team work and how we could effectively achieve these within our group.

The key skills include:

- Showing a creative and resourceful approach to a Live Project.

- Working successfully with others.

- Understanding group dynamics.

- Consultation procedures with client and peers.

- Recording all processes involved during the development and implementation of the project e.g. phone calls, methods of sourcing materials etc.

Our first task as a group was to assess our individual strengths and weaknesses and how we could use these to create a strong team dynamic. This involved looking at our individual personalities:

Claire

'Thinker' - strong analytical skills, able to foresee problems and stop other personalities getting carried away with potentially impractical ideas, gathers and evaluates information, can be quiet before vocalising a idea or concern.

Strengths: Good making and research skills, access to her own sewing machine and textile equipment.

Weaknesses: Can find it difficult to talk to new people.

Rhi

'Coordinator/Achiever' - very organised, able to keep the project on track, makes sure decisions made allow progress within the project.

Strengths: Very good at researching and selecting appropriate information, feels comfortable talking in front of people.

Weaknesses: Can take on too much work which can impact on the quality and progress of work.

Myself

'Doer' - keen to get things done, very practical and strong making skills. Less engaged with long discussions.

Strengths: Confident in CAD, strong skills in terms of creating a concept and ensuring this is adhered to and reflected through design, strong making skills.

Weaknesses: Can struggle to articulate ideas, can be disorganised.

We then looked at how these traits could work together to create a strong team dynamic. Rhi has clear organisational skills and so would be ideal for communicating with clients, coordinating meetings and logistics (we discussed how it would be beneficial to have only one team member communicating with the client in terms of organising meetings etc. as to maintain a professional manor by not overwhelming the client and causing confusion, Rhi's skills are suited best for this and so she has agreed to take on this role). My strengths will allow us to create a concept based upon our research which we can stick to and achieve through the design stage. Throughout the process Claire's analytical skills will allow any potential problems to be foreseen and avoided. Having completed this exercise I can see exactly how our individual characteristics will work together effectively to allow us to work as a unit.

Following this we decided it was best to set some ground rules for the project which would allow everything to run a little more smoothly. This allows everyone to know where they stand and understand what is expected of them from the get go.

We established that we should:

- meet for a minimum of 1 hour per week. This would be fit in around our individual university timetables and other commitments such as work. Tuesdays at 3.15 or Wednesdays at 11.15 seem to be the most preferable options as these follow lectures we are all in together and so have minimum impact on our other commitments.

- if one of us is unable to attend a scheduled meeting we should let the other group members know.

- equal practical participation. We are all very keen to be involved within the making process and so will divide this fairly between ourselves.

- complete any tasks we have committed to. If we need a hand, let the group know. As the project will involve us working on individual tasks alongside group ones it's key that we complete any of these tasks within the time scale set in order to allow the project to progress successfully. We're all aware that other commitments such as other projects, health issues or employed work may impact on our ability to complete tasks and will help each other out where needed. This relieves pressure on us as individuals and will keep us working as a team unit effectively.

- play to your strengths! Don't take on any tasks you know you can't complete as well as another team member, by playing to individual strengths we will have a far more successful outcome.

Finally we looked at our key goals for this brief:

- to be ambitious but not over ambitious within the time scale. Bear in mind what is realistically achievable.

- to try to set up something with longevity which could be continued by Inn Churches after the project has been completed.

- allow market research and individuals to influence the project, make sure the end product answers the needs of the individuals we are catering for. This bring me back to what Ben had said in our first meeting about how the idea that someone had invested time in a object (in reference to Homeless Beanies) really made a difference. I believe this is something we should really try to include within the project!

- maintain a balance between the purpose of the end product and our creativity.

Overall I think our key aims and strengths as a group will allow us to run this project successfully and achieve a positive outcome for both the individuals benefitting from the Home Starter Packs and Inn Churches.

I got it!

We had to submit letters of application for the project we wished to take part in. This was then assessed by Claire and representatives from the respective organisation based on our interest in the brief, initial ideas, how it fit in with our individual practice and whether our skills would be appropriate for the brief. Having applied for the Home Starter Pack Project I found out this week that my application was successful and I'm able to start work on this exciting brief!! I'm very happy with the result as I find this brief incredibly inspiring and I'm very eager to get ideas flowing with my team. I'll find out who I'm working with next week when we can start looking at team dynamics and how best to fulfill the brief!

Planning!

During the session on community with Claire (see my last blog post!) we also looked at planning, how to go about this and how it can impact on a project.

To put this into practice we were asked to split into groups and complete a Case Study based on teaching Year 6 pupils (aged 10/11) over a 4 week period (a 2 hour session each week) about the theme 'Victorians'. There would be 4 students running the class of 15 pupils. A teacher would be present who would be in charge of the class in terms of behaviour and safety and a teaching assistant would also be available.

Within our group we decided that the theme for each session would be given to the class as a whole before splitting the pupils into groups of 3 or 4. These groups would be decided before the sessions with the help of the class teacher as they could consider academic ability and behaviour in order to best split the pupils into groups. Each group would be allocated a student leader who would then take them through the sessions activities. The teacher would circulate the groups in order to keep a eye on behaviour etc.

As a group we decided to focus on 'Victorian Inventions' as a more specific theme for our sessions, keeping in mind textile influences which could be incorporated into the syllabus.

Session 1 - The Camera

Activity:

The session would begin with a talk about the camera including key facts such as when it was invented, who by etc. Photographs from this era will be shown to the pupils and we will discuss the clothing styles in the photographs. Fabrics sourced from Lee Mills would be brought in to show the pupils the textiles within fashion that can be seen in the images. A pinhole camera would then be made in groups and the pupils would dress up in the Victorian fabrics and clothes provided to have their photograph taken using the pinhole camera they have made. A digital camera would also be on hand so more copies of the images could be made allowing the pupils to take a copy home!

Learning Outcomes:

- Key facts about the invention of the camera.

- Insight into Victorian textiles and how these were used within fashion.

- Learning how to make a basic camera.

- Team building skills.

Equipment:

- Cardboard boxes

- Light sensitive paper

- Electrical tape

- Scissors

- Outfits

- Victorian fabrics

- Old photographs

Session 2 - Post

Activity:

In this session we would look at the invention of post and how huge of a impact this had on our country - imagine a life without post! The invention would be introduced along with key facts such as when and who it was invented by. Examples of letters and stamps would be shown to the pupils in chronological order so they could see how the postal system has progressed. We would also talk about when the Christmas/Easter card was invented (depending on which season the session fell in) and would get the class to create their own holiday cards. Textiles such as felt would be used when making the cards in order to incorporate our own textile practice into the session. Fountain pens, feathers and ink and other original methods of calligraphy would be available for the pupils to experiment with.

Learning Outcomes:

- Understanding the origins of the postal system and how important it is

- Looking at the way in which post has allowed us to correspond and how important it has been e.g. love letters during war, holiday cards, postcards etc.

- Engaging with individual creativity and developing craft skills.

- Being able to identify with the Victorian era.

- Social interaction skills improved.

Equipment:

- Card

- Felt

- Embellishments: ribbon, buttons, beads, glitter, pom poms, fluff etc.

- Drawing materials: felt tips, pencils, pencil crayons etc.

- Writing equipment: fountain pens, quills, ink etc.

Session 3 - Sewing Machine

Activity:

The invention would be introduced along with basic facts and information as to why the invention was so important. Explain how clothes could be made at home with ease and how this was needed during war time. The invention of the sewing machine also enabled the mass production of clothing - could the pupils imagine a world where clothes were not mass produced and freely available?! A cross stitch activity would be completed with the students allowing them to engage with the practice of sewing. They could stitch their own image or name, alternatively template images would also be provided.

Learning Outcomes:

- Learning about machine and hand stitch techniques

- Understand how clothes were made during the Victorian era.

- Engaging with the design process

- Improving craft skills

Equipment:

- Fabric swatches (semi-open weave to allow needle to pass through easily, reduce hazard of pricking fingers)

- Pencils

- Embroidery threads

- Tapestry needles (these have a blunter end and would reduce the possibility of pricking fingers while still being able to pass through a fabric with a semi-open weave easily)

Session 4 - Banner

Activity:

For the final session the smaller groups would come back together to work as a while class of 15 on a large, collage banner for display in the pupils school. The banner would show what the pupils had learnt about the Victorian era with the banner being split into 3 sections: the camera, the postal system and the sewing machine. Equipment relating to each invention would be gathered e.g. photographs and fabrics donated from Lee Mills from the camera session, stamps and letters created by the pupils in the postal system session and cross stitch samples created during the sewing machine session.

Learning Outcomes:

- Team building skills, the whole class have to work together towards one goal (a banner demonstrating what they have learnt over the last 4 weeks)

- Engaging in the design process

- Developing craft skills

- Recapping information taught in previous weeks

Equipment:

- Large card banner ready cut out

- Collage materials: tissue paper, felt, fabrics (donations from Lee Mills), stamps, letters, envelopes, polaroids, cross stitch samples.

- Embellishment: buttons, fluff, pom poms, glitter, beads, ribbon etc.

- Drawing materials: pens, pencils, pencil crayons, felt tips etc.

- Scissors

- Glue

For me I feel this was a incredibly useful activity to complete as planning is not my strong suit! This case study has shown me how planning ahead can make the running of community sessions much more relaxing and straight forward which will definitely be useful throughout this project!

Community

During yesterdays lecture with Claire we were shown a presentation which explained a little more about the meaning and importance of community and how we could embed our textiles practice within this. I'm really keen to get members of the wider community involved within this project so I found the presentation really interesting and inspiring.

Community

"...not only the people who are in it. A community is already existing before all the people in it have been born. A 'community' may not even have a physical location (members could have moved to other locations), but it is formed from a group of people with a common interest."

This made me think of the different types of communities, some of which may be interested in contributing to this project:
- Educational: Schools (e.g. Mount Pleasant Primary School who are interested in participating in the Penistone Line project), Colleges, Universities.
- Clubs: Scouts, sports clubs, art groups, sewing classes, knitting groups, after school clubs.
- Family
- Local: based on location
- Ethnic
- Religious
- Co-workers

Textiles can be embedded within a community in a variety of ways such as:
- Community Art: professional artists collaborate with people who don't normally actively engage in arts.
- Artistic Activity: this can be based in a community setting. It can take any form and involves interaction or communication with the community.

The impacts of participating within the arts can include personal growth, empowerment, cultural democracy, social and critical awareness can be raised, personal enrichment and enjoyment, and transmission of values. Art creating a transmission of values demonstrates that no art is "value free" which I feel lends itself well to the Home Starter Pack brief as a key theme within this project is the inclusion of sentimental and emotional value within the object. I think this could be achieved with strong community involvement!

I'm really hoping my application for the Home Starter Pack project is successful as I really think community collaboration will add so much value and meaning to the outcome of the brief!

Decision Time!

Of the three projects I think I've been most drawn to the Home Starter Pack project from the off set and this was really clear to me following the visit to Bradford earlier this week.

What has drawn me to this project the most is the idea that the products which we create could really impact on a individuals life who hasn't had the easiest of times. The idea that a concept could be drawn together allowing us to create a object with immediate sentimental value, impacting on the emotional well-being of the receiver is really inspiring my imagination. Moving into a new home can be a lonely experience, what with blank cream walls, sudden independence and a lack of personal items. I would love to be able to get various communities involved with the project and working into the final item(s) in order to really give the object a sense of comradely and love which would hopefully impact positively on the receivers life.

I have to apply for the project now, after which I find out who my teammates will be.

Fingers crossed I get it!

Inn Churches - Home Starter Pack Project

Yesterday we visited the charity Inn Churches in Bradford to find out more about the Home Starter Pack brief which they had set us. We met with June Hill, Julie Thompson and Ben who works for Inn Churches. The charity began as a winter shelter and 16 churches are now involved each taking turns to shelter 12 people a night for a week. These individuals are then moved into permanent accommodation and their needs are assessed to see whether a Home Starter Pack would be appropriate for them. The idea of the packs is to help individuals kicks start life in their new home. They contain basic necessities such as washing liquid, towels and bedding. A £10 voucher for use in the charities in house shop is given out with the packs to allow individuals to buy ornaments etc. which will personalise their new accommodation and make their house into a home. Since December 2013 over 60 starter packs have been given to those in need.

Inn Churches also runs a scheme called Homeless Beanies. This involved volunteers knitting beanie hats and sending them to the charity to be given out to those in need of warmth over the winter months. During this process there was some cross wires and the charity found themselves receiving a lot of knitted squares alongside the beanies. They then utilised these squares to create knitted patchwork quilts which were given out to those in need. During the chat Ben mentioned how the fact that these items were handmade really 'made a difference' to the individuals receiving them. The idea that someone had taken the time to create a item especially for them really meant a lot. I really love this concept of making something which will have such sentimental value to the receiver due to something so simple as taking a little extra time and care to create a truly personal item.

During the meeting we generated ideas as a group gaining live feedback from June, Julie and Ben. Key ideas which were mentioned included:

- Strong use of textiles. Textiles is associated with comfort and warmth and can give inanimate objects emotive value.

- A little time and attention means a awful lot.

- Personal touch: A label could be added to the items once completed e.g. "made with love from Huddersfield University".

- Awareness raising: Posters and illustrations could be used to promote the work done by the charity. It was emphasised that we are not limited to items to go within the packs but could do other work which would help the progression of the charity. As I'm a huge fan of illustration and it plays a huge role within my practice this sparked the idea in my mind of creating a incredibly large textile wall piece which could contain illustrative images and a message to promote the charity. This could then be cut down into blanket sized pieces to be given out with the Home Starter Packs encouraging a sense of community and connection between isolated individuals.

- Sewing groups: Create social engagement within the project. As moving into a house on your own can be very lonely to begin with (I've experienced this when moving into blank university halls) these workshops would encourage social engagement. This would also be a sustainable concept which could be continued beyond the parameters of the project deadline.

Innovative - Interesting - Imaginative - Inspiring