Artwork by members of Connect Happy Hour Arts and Craft
How our sector is rising to challenge of the coronavirus lockdown
I love spring. Wherever I go I look out for little buds poking through the brown leafy floor or tiny tips of green on otherwise bare branches. These offer glimpses of potential, a promise that warmer days are to come. This year the Coronavirus has changed everything. My regular catch-up calls with groups that have received funding from Salford CVS usually involve conversations about the impact of the group’s activity for those that attend. I felt apprehensive contacting the groups this month, aware that many will be unable to continue as they were. My heart was heavy with sadness and concern that for many people these activities provide a lifeline, a community of support and friendship. However, as I made my way through these calls a different story emerged. Glimpses of spring are everywhere.
A rich history of making a difference
I have worked in the VCSE sector for over 20 years and know first-hand one of its greatest strengths is its ability to adapt, to identify a need and find ways to meet it. In Salford, we have a long track record stretching back over 100 years. Way back in 1919, the Manchester and Salford Council of Social Service (now Salford CVS and MACC) was established to address poverty and social need after World War One. The sector has always been driven by a passion for people that is irrepressible. Group after group that I’ve spoken to were brimming with ideas of how to continue their activity remotely. The sector is responding to the current crisis by ‘budding’ new ideas of ways to connect and creating online communities to ensure that no one is left alone.
Going digital – a community group’s response
Connect Community Centre in Eccles receives funding through the NHS Salford CCG Third Sector Fund to host Happy Hour Arts and Craft. This is a self-help support group where people can create artwork, make new friends and connect with those they already know. From March this group has moved online using WhatsApp to share activities and worksheets for people to try out new art techniques. This month the group has been encouraged to create crafty birds. Here are a few things that people have said of the group since it moved onto WhatsApp;
“The Happy Hour Arts and Craft WhatsApp group has been buzzing ever since we had premises lockdown. More people are getting involved than we ever had before. Great pictures, fantastic good-natured banter, laughs, sharing coffee and cake over the WhatsApp as though we were all together in the same room. Some are laughing and joking with people they’ve never met! No need to dress-up, comb your hair; just join in as you are. All great fun for all involved. Fully inclusive to all. There’s no time to be lonely! I’m sure it is going to continue even when corona virus is finally defeated.”
“The contact online like this is like a release valve from the pressure cooker of fear. It allows us to voice our fears and just do ‘normal activities’ albeit separately.”
“I’m so grateful to you for adding me to the art group app. Both the art group and singing groups are great to be a part of. Friends are so important. This lockdown has put a strain on us, thank goodness I have these groups to keep me sane.”
The group has regular contact throughout the week and has even started ‘travelling’ around the art galleries of the world. Denise the group organiser encourages members to make a coffee and shares a link for a virtual tour of these galleries so they can travel the world together. Hearing Denise talk about the group’s laughter and how they have begun to share their artwork, poems and songs fortify my belief in our sector’s ability to adapt and respond to the greatest challenges we face.
Groups such as Connect are helping people keep safe by socially distancing and maintain wellbeing by ensuring they are still connecting. We are not alone. We live in a society of rich connections that are more essential than ever. At the end of my call, Denise asked me to make sure I mention that this group is open to anyone who wants to join and to encourage other groups that are thinking of going digital to take the leap. Of her experience, she says:
“it is so easy. It has inspired the imagination and I have never laughed so much”.
If you would like to get involved in Connect’s Happy Hour of Arts and craft email Denise at denisebgreen@yahoo.co.uk
Be inspired and share your amazing #SalfordStories
If you want to get involved in an online group look out for Salford CVS’ timetable of activities in which we will promote local VCSE group activities such as Connect’s Happy Hour.
If you want to tell us about how your group has adapted to our new reality, please get in touch. We would love to share your stories and inspire others.
Email office@salfordcvs.co.uk
Or use the hashtag #SalfordStories on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram