Tag: Fast Forward

Photography project inspires West African women to tell their stories at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery

A mentorship programme at the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) has given six West African women the opportunity to tell their unheard life stories through the medium of photography.

Charting their individual physical, mental and spiritual journeys, the photographs will be on display at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery until 8 January 2023.

Today (5 December), the mentees celebrated the publication of a brand-new book. Titled Putting Ourselves in the Picture, the book includes a compelling selection of their photographs created during the mentorship programme.

Designed to develop the skills and confidence of six women, the mentorship programme involved using photography as a means of storytelling, learning how to make photographs using cameras and experimenting with photographic techniques such as collage and photograms.

The weekly sessions were coordinated by workshop leader Sam Rutherford and photographer Wendy McMurdo along with Chief Curator Anne Lyden.

The group took part in a series of workshops held every Monday at North Edinburgh Arts in Autumn 2021. Working with guest facilitator, Morwenna Kearsley, they learned how to use their new DSLR cameras, which they continue to use in their photographic practice.

Now settled in Scotland and residents of North Edinburgh, the mentees who took part chose a subject close to their heart to capture on camera.

The diverse themes explored by the mentees include:

  • Lovelin’s battle with bureaucracy to obtain settled status in the UK.
  • Maureen’s adjustment to high-rise living and comparing her new life in Scotland to her home country, Nigeria.
  • Linda, from Ghana, examined the challenges she overcame in learning how to drive, which was essential for her independence in Scotland.
  • Grace, an Evangelist from Nigeria, captured her experience of preaching about Jesus in Edinburgh.
  • Nwanyi’s motivation and study toward the establishment of her law career in Scotland.
  • Hannah’s weight-loss journey through walking, which helped improve her mental wellbeing during the pandemic.

The photographs along with statements from each of the women are on display in the exhibition You Are Here.

NGS’ mentorship programme was part of a pioneering nationwide project, Putting Ourselves in the Picture. Led by Professor Anna Fox, director and founding member of Fast Forward: Women in Photography, the programme was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, part of the UK Research Initiative. 

Putting Ourselves in the Picture is driven by women from communities around the UK. Alongside NGS, it has enabled several organisations—Impressions Gallery, Bradford; Autograph, London; Women for Refugee Women and WorkShowGrow to support marginalised women and non-binary individuals through the means of photography. The mentees were also the subjects of films and podcasts commissioned by Putting Ourselves in the Picture.

The new hardback publication Putting Ourselves in the Picture brings together photographs and creative writing produced by NGS’ mentorship group, alongside work created by sixteen other women working with our project partners across the UK. The powerful narratives and inspiring images that emerge from the pages of this book confront gender discrimination and the marginalisation of women in our societies. 

Running throughout 2022 at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, You Are Here amplifies the ways in which communities can engage with art to benefit their health and wellbeing. Drawing upon collaborative projects between NGS and partner organisations across Scotland, identity and belonging are at the forefront of this exhibition.

Anna Fox said: “This is a storytelling project of immense value and importance. I am bowled over by the powerful stories on display at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, which also feature in this new book.

“The wonderful book is the result of an 18 month-long project which saw five amazing partner organisations, a dozen photographers and educators, and 21 mentees, come together in collaboration.”

Anne Lyden said: “The mentees shared their experiences as African immigrants to Scotland with us, trusting us with their stories and offering insight into a vital community located in North Edinburgh.

“It is a huge privilege to celebrate the culmination of the mentorship programme today with Lovelin, Maureen, Linda, Grace, Nwanyi, and Hannah.”

PICTURES: Neil Hanna

£97,000 Lottery LIFT for Muirhouse Millennium Centre

Muirhouse Millennium Centre is among twenty-seven community groups across Edinburgh are sharing in a £717,108 cash boost from The National Lottery Community Fund today.  

The Millennium Centre receives £97,000 to ‘provide a range of community activities within Muirhouse Millennium Centre engaging approximately 150 local community members and four volunteers.’

Muirhouse Millennium Centre is also the base of LIFT (Low Income Families Together), who run a range of services from the Millennium Centre.

Thanks to an award of £53,463, Leith-based Fast Forward (Positive Lifestyles) Ltd will be able to continue their ‘Ask Dad’ project – a health education and training programme for dads and male carers across Edinburgh and the Lothians -for another three years.

Mark Hunter, Project Officer, Ask Dad, said: “Thanks to this support from The National Lottery Community Fund our ‘Ask Dad’ programme will be able to continue to support dads whose families are going through a period of difficulty. 

“We’re looking forward to developing our work to date, including our Good Conversations programme, supporting parents to have what they perceive as awkward, difficult, or embarrassing conversations with their children.

“We are looking forward to working on our new programme, ‘Dad: The Invisible Parent’ which will support better awareness and understanding by practitioners of the challenges faced by dads, to improve their engagement and communication with dads, towards better outcomes for their children. 

“In addition, by working with parents who feel ignored or unwelcome by service providers, we aim to improve their ability to communicate with services and to understand a service provider’s role and their limitations.” 

Better informed, more confident dads improve the wellbeing of the whole family. They also improve their children’s educational attainment. These impacts are even more profound in the communities affected by poverty and inequality.

An award of £114,344 means that Craigmillar Literacy Trust will continue to provide their support to local families with babies and children up to nine years of age for the next three years.

They will also be able to run their new ‘Express Yourself’ programme for older children and young people aged up to the age of sixteen using digital media and performance to support them to connect with literacy in a way that is more relevant to them.

Kara Whelan, Project Manager, Craigmillar Literacy Trust, said: “This grant will support our work with babies, children, young people, and families in Craigmillar though our early literacy, family literacy and young people’s projects. 

“Our work is relationship based and embedded in our community. We are looking forward to building on the strengths we have and to developing new and innovating approaches to supporting literacy in our community.”

Edinburgh Tool Library receives £9,500 to help with the costs of a Volunteer Co-ordinator who will deliver a bespoke training programme for volunteers as well as making links with other third sector organisations in Edinburgh and will help the group engage with new communities and neighbourhoods across the city.

Chris Hellawell, Founder and Director, Edinburgh Tool Library, said: “This support will allow us to reach communities that we haven’t yet spoken to before, help us enhance the support we give to our community and to produce materials to share with other organisations like ours across Scotland so we can amplify the impart of all the hard work or our volunteers in Edinburgh.  Thank you so much.”

More Edinburgh projects celebrating today include Ama-zing Harmonies, Big Hearts Community Trust, Leith Community Centre, LifeCare and St Columba’s Hospice.

Across Scotland 179 projects are sharing in £5,752,948 today. Announcing the funding, The National Lottery Community Fund’s Scotland Chair, Kate Still, said: “Local community groups bring people together to support one another through difficult times.

“Sometimes this is as simple as providing a listening ear and other times it can be a real lifeline connecting people who might otherwise be lonely and isolated. Each of the projects receiving funding today in Edinburgh remind us of the power of social connections and the difference that community projects can make to people’s lives.

 “National Lottery players can be proud to know that the money they raise is helping to support this vital work.” 

 The National Lottery Community Fund distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes and more than £30 million a week is raised for good causes across the UK.

Thanks to National Lottery players, last year we awarded over half a billion pounds (£588.2 million) of life-changing funding to communities across the UK. Over eight in ten (83%) of our grants are for under £10,000 – going to grassroots groups and charities across the UK that are bringing to life amazing ideas that matter to their communities. 

Distillers support Edinburgh groups tackling alcohol misuse

The Scotch Whisky Action Fund (SWAF) has announced its support of three organisations based in Edinburgh working to tackle the effects of alcohol misuse and promote responsible drinking.

The fund was established in 2013 by the Scotch Whisky Association and has made over 50 awards to innovative projects across Scotland working to reduce alcohol-related harm. The aim is to inspire innovation and develop small, grassroots projects that can develop into larger scale initiatives. The Fund is managed by Foundation Scotland and awards are decided by an independent panel.

The projects granted funding in this year’s awards aim to ensure that the effects of alcohol misuse can continue to be addressed in a supportive setting, and recognising that this support is all the more important because of the pressures on everyone’s lives caused by COVID-19. 

The projects have adapted how they deliver support during the current restrictions, so they can operate in COVID-secure ways, including embracing virtual platforms.

Rowan Alba, a homeless charity based in Leith, also provides support on tackling alcohol misuse in the community.

The SWAF funding will build upon their pilot work providing training for Edinburgh pub staff on recognising and engaging with older people in the community living in extreme isolation and at high risk of alcohol related harm.

Helen Carlin, CEO of Rowan Alba, said: “The SWAF funding will help to strengthen the work that Rowan Alba is doing in the local community to address the harm that alcohol can have, particularly when combined with social isolation.

“Leith has an amazing community spirit; everyone looks out for each other. This funding will help us to build on these relationships and meaningful conversations that can make a real difference in ensuring that someone gets the help that they need. We would like to encourage pubs and bars throughout the city to contact us if they would like to be involved in the training being provided.”

Fast Forward is based in Edinburgh and supports young people to make informed choices around risk-taking behaviours, including knife crime, substance misuse, gambling and gaming and alcohol related harm.

The SWAF funding will contribute towards the ‘Own It!’ project, created by Fast Forward’s Arts-Based Project Director Kai Peacock, which uses a virtual platform designed to empower young people about making positive decisions around the use of alcohol. The project will be tested on groups of young people across 10 areas of Scotland, starting in West Lothian.

Allie Cherry-Byrnes, Chief Executive of Fast Forward: “The skill and enthusiasm of the Fast Forward team have helped us create the Own It! project, that will help support young people to explore the impact of risk-taking behaviours, particularly alcohol related harm.

“We’re delighted to be working with the Scotch Whisky Action Fund to continue the development of the project, ensuring that it can be used by as many groups as possible via its digital format. If any youth-based organisations in Scotland would like to be involved in the project as it develops, we would urge them to contact us to discuss it further.”

Edinburgh Young Carers (EYC) is Scotland’s largest independent young carers’ service, providing respite and support to young people aged 5-25 who care for or are affected by someone else at home – usually a parent or sibling.

Edinburgh Young Carers is receiving funding from the Scotch Whisky Action Fund for the second time, towards a dedicated project aimed at tackling the impact of COVID-19 on its service users. The SWAF funding will be used to support the work of the organisation’s Health and Wellbeing service, helping to give young carers quality time to take a break, talk about what is affecting them, and the opportunity to learn coping techniques.

Margaret Murphy, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Young Carers, said: “We are grateful to have been awarded funding from the Scotch Whisky Action Fund again, and for the Award Panel’s understanding in the wake of COVID-19 which allowed us to adapt our plans and project delivery.

“The SWAF funding will help to give our young carers strength and resilience to deal with the ongoing situation, which for many has had a serious impact on their home life, their sense of isolation, and their access to respite time. We also look forward to sharing the learnings from this project with other organisations in Scotland’s caring sector.”

Karen Betts, Chief Executive of the Scotch Whisky Association said: “The Scotch Whisky industry is committed to tackling alcohol misuse and supporting the organisations receiving awards this year is very important to us. 

“It’s particularly important at a time when COVID-19 is putting enormous pressure on individuals, families and communities across Scotland.  These projects represent part of the industry’s broader commitment to tackling alcohol misuse.”

NAE DANGER: new resource to tackle knife crime to be launched today

“Saving a life outweighs the fear of being called a grass.”

The Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Humza Yousaf will today launch a new resource, created by No Knives Better Lives, intended to help young people safely intervene when they suspect someone they know is carrying a knife. Continue reading NAE DANGER: new resource to tackle knife crime to be launched today

£1.4 million National Lottery boost gives older Scots a new lease of life

Community Fund Lottery cash for Move On and Fast Forward

Older people across Scotland are celebrating a £1.4m National Lottery cash boost that will help them get out of their homes and into their communities for tea dances, lunch clubs, men’s sheds, fitness classes and much, much more. Continue reading £1.4 million National Lottery boost gives older Scots a new lease of life

Danger of knife crime drama to tour Scottish schools

This unique theatre performance, ‘Balisong’, designed for schools by young performers, empowers young people to stand up, speak out and get help if a friend or classmate is carrying a knife. Continue reading Danger of knife crime drama to tour Scottish schools

Fast Forward praise for NENgage sessions

Leith-based national voluntary organisation Fast Forward has launched a new blog showcasing their range of projects across Scotland following participation in the recent NENgage social media workshops. 

Rona Saunders, Fast Forward’s communications officer, attended the NENgage sessions and has used learning from them to create the blog and embed short films. She said: “The NENgage sessions were good to meet like-minded individuals and learn new skills.  I’ve brought them back to our organisation and shared them with our staff.  It’s a great way for us to demonstrate the range of work we do with young people across the country.  It was super to attend free sessions locally to learn all the skills required.  Thanks very much to the whole NENgage team”.

Fast Forward is the national voluntary organisation promoting health by, with and for young people, focusing on the prevention of alcohol, drug and tobacco misuse.  The new blog features contributions from the whole staff team and features films and images from their sessions.  The active Fast Forward volunteer team of young people are also currently creating blog posts for future contributions.

You call follow the Fast Forward blog here: http://fastforwardorg.wordpress.com/ and there’s more info about the organisation at www.fastforward.org.uk

And thanks for the plug, Rona!