Advertisement
Art

Accumulate are sending 500 art kits a week to homeless people in London

The homeless art charity have had to put workshops on hold due to Covid-19, but that hasn’t stopped them from helping people express themselves

The coronavirus lockdown has not stopped homeless arts charity Accumulate from giving people on the margins the chance to get creative.

Dubbed “The Art School for the Homeless”, Accumulate had a busy year planned, with the first-ever radio station operated by homeless people and a graphic novel was also pencilled in, written by people on the streets telling their stories in their own words and images.

But the pandemic has seen the charity pivot to meet the arty needs of rough sleepers currently housed in hostels for their own protection from the virus. So far, with the help of Crisis funding, Accumulate has shipped out 500 art kits a week to individuals living in 31 different hostels and emergency accommodation.

Each art box features a themed project inside as well as all the materials needed, tasking people to turn an everyday object into a building, for example.

The art boxes have had a positive impact on mental health, says Accumulate’s Emma Carboni.

She told The Big Issue: “The project just keeps getting bigger and bigger with more and more hostels and individuals wanting to get involved. Some of the work they are creating is brilliant.”

Advertisement
Advertisement

The feedback from some of the people who have used the kits has also been positive.

One person told Accumulate: “The project is helping me so much with coping through the isolation.”

Another added: “It’s Christmas weekly during lockdown because of this charity.”

And a third person said: “I’ve grown so much as a person through this group and wanted to share on a wider scale to keep pushing for positive creativity.”

As for the Book of Homelessness graphic novel, the launch originally scheduled for next month may not be going ahead but online workshops are ongoing with all participants also taking part in the art kit project.

Podcast training via Skype and Zoom have also kept the radio station on air. Work is underway for ‘News for The Unconnected’ – a new podcast series focusing on support, information and wellbeing for people who are homeless during the pandemic.

To see instructions on how to get the most out of the art kits, including videos and a shared portal for people to share their work, head here.

Advertisement

Change a vendor's life this Christmas

This Christmas, 3.8 million people across the UK will be facing extreme poverty. Thousands of those struggling will turn to selling the Big Issue as a vital source of income - they need your support to earn and lift themselves out of poverty.

Recommended for you

Read All
Harry Hill, Opake, Real Hackney Dave and more design Christmas wrapping paper exclusively for Big Issue
Christmas Wrapping paper

Harry Hill, Opake, Real Hackney Dave and more design Christmas wrapping paper exclusively for Big Issue

'Love is the most powerful emotion there is': Artist Opake on homelessness, addiction and Christmas
Opake
Art

'Love is the most powerful emotion there is': Artist Opake on homelessness, addiction and Christmas

Fin DAC: 'As a creator of public murals, I aspire to leave spaces brighter than I found them'
Fin DAC
Fin DAC

Fin DAC: 'As a creator of public murals, I aspire to leave spaces brighter than I found them'

'It's art for people': This one-man kayak project shows the beauty of slowing down
Lying down flat in a kayak offers a rarely seen view of the UK’s waterways
Art

'It's art for people': This one-man kayak project shows the beauty of slowing down

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue