Plymouth's Street Factory very grateful to receive lifeline Arts Council England Emergency Response Fund COVID Grant
Plymouth-based Hip Hop Social Collective and Community Interest Company (CIC), Street Factory has today received the news that its application to the Arts Council England Emergency Response Fund has been successful. The £34,910 grant, funded using National Lottery resources, means that the organisation now has a COVID-19 ‘lifeline’ ensuring ongoing ‘pivoting’ of the Street Factory offerings, and daily delivery, of the organisation’s classes, programmes and sessions for at least the next six months.
During these unprecedented times when many have been forced to down tools, Street Factory, creators of the UK’s first Hip Hop theatre, have been continuing to reach out with their well-known positive vibe as they stay connected with their community, providing elemental well-being support, mentoring, dance and fitness classes and encouraging entertainment – all from their own home. This swift re-organisation and innovation has been featured on the GOV.UK website as an example of excellence for its reaction to the lockdown and support of its community.
Street Factory Co-Founder Jo Gorniak says, “Like every organisation, the COVID crisis, and the lockdown, poses us with a complicated set of challenges – both in terms of how we retain our vital levels of individual and group support for all of our service users and members, but also, as a Community Interest Company, how we have the necessary funds to pay the rent, bills and necessary support costs that normally allow us to open and to work every day.”
Jo continues, “The lockdown period is challenging for everyone in terms of mental health, anxiety and uncertainty, so a number of our vulnerable Street Factory cases actually need more of our input and support now, We are therefore extremely grateful to have received this lifeline Arts Council England Emergency Funding, via National Lottery resources, and on behalf of all our members, we cannot thank the relevant teams, and the public who buy lottery tickets enough. This critical financial support will enable us to thrive and to continue our community outreach work which has now gone online and virtual.”
The emergency funding will help Street Factory continue with their essential operations and digital, online and social media-driven projects. Alongside support from the Rank Organisation, it will support the costs of all of the classes and individual coaching and mentoring programmes, enabling the Street Factory team to continue to virtually reach out, working with, and staying connected to, the surrounding vulnerable community. It will also help the team keep their Hip Hop Theatre venue safe, covering costs of rent and utilities which will ensure they have a focal point and physical base for the community to return to when the crisis recedes
In a normal week, founders Toby G and Jo Gorniak would be working from their Plymouth theatre base, teaching classes, leading groups and providing their innovative forms of social, community and personal care and mentoring to in excess of 300 people. Toby, Jo and their various hip-hop educators also regularly provide outreach classes for over 400 students in a range of on-site school sessions as well as additional training programmes and projects as required in other locations citywide.
Some of the issues and challenges facing the Street Factory community include bullying, mental health issues of all kinds, low aspiration, racism, poverty, ageism, special and additional needs, homelessness, unemployment and lack of immediate opportunities. The Street Factory service therefore supports a major number of people through these personal journeys on a day-to-day basis, making the COVID lockdown all the more serious for a number of these vulnerable community members.
Toby G, who was awarded an MBE by the Duke of Cambridge in 2018 for his Outstanding Community Contribution adds, “We are so blessed to receive this funding, it will help us no end in delivering our work. This could be a negative time and we are determined to keep positive, keep connected and keep communicating, and we are blown away with the amount of people logging in from all over the city, and all over the world, to take part in our free sessions – and now we know we can keep on running those and helping everyone stay positive, whilst they stay safe.’’
Toby G continues, “We have found working digitally has enhanced our reach and connected us with even more members of our community who do not normally access culture, or such positive activities, and they have said they feel inspired, less isolated and are learning new skills. This ripple effect of the crisis is one we want expand on. We know many in our vulnerable community have no family connections and are struggling, and that also a number are not able to readily access the internet, so we are keeping in contact by telephone and other methods. We are all incredibly grateful to the teams at the National Lottery and Arts Council England for their work in making this grant possible, and to all of the members of the public who contribute to the National Lottery on a weekly basis.”
Street Factory thrives today through a mix of grant funding from Arts Council England (ACE), the National Lottery, the People’s Health Trust and the Rank Foundation, all geared up to deliver sustainable and accountable outcomes. Street Factory creates real and powerful change that empowers and enables people of all ages the opportunity to unlock the potential that sits within them, despite facing a range of social and economic challenges.
