For the last 48 years, Reverend John Butcher has championed harmony, equality and diversity with people from all backgrounds, ages, cultures, beliefs and nationalities. He developed the annual Rotherham Show for young people to educate them on social awareness through entertainment and drama. John also trained a multi-cultural team to form ‘Cosmo Club’; creating harmony among children from all backgrounds. The club had a significant impact on the Hackney community, and John was able to engage local businesses and professional bodies in providing funding and resources; An outstanding £40,000 was also raised each year from charitable trusts. Due to the success of Cosmo Club John was not only invited and welcomed into other Boroughs, but also nationally and internationally. John’s work in inclusion was raised to a new level with his links with West Midlands Police as a volunteer Police Chaplain and as the Force Lead Chaplain. His passion has seen the development of a 40 strong West Midlands Police Multi Faith Chaplaincy Team.
Tag: Lifetime Achiever Award
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Dilys Price , Director -Touch Trust
It is exactly twelve weeks since I had the inspiring experience of being a winner at the 2014 National Diversity Awards in London.
I met so many beautiful and amazing people that night. It made me realize that those of us who care about celebrating diversity ,about helping those for whom the playing field of life is not equal –are not lone voices in the wilderness- however that can seem when we are at home fighting and daring to change things in this capitalist world we live in.
We have power and the power is to be able to resist becoming fearful , defeated, passive, sheep like conformists and to robustly search out truth and compassion and kindness .Coming together that evening I felt the strength of love and beauty of so many different groups ,all fighting for different aspects a shared vision. I felt invigorated and renewed .
Things change because of people .
Reading about Nelson Mandela ,I was reminded that the Apartheid Laws came into being as recently as 1948 until1994- Mandela changed all that; Wilberforce fought and won against the established fact of slavery ; the Wright brothers had the impossible task of making a lump of metal fly…..they all made “ the impossible” possible. Who would have thought that others would follow to make air transport ordinary or that America would have a black President?
Miracles are waiting to happen ,waiting for us to believe in the impossible and to commit ourselves in action and thought to our dream of a better world..
I believe that positive energy has a positive result ,some where, somehow ,some way .This is based on the geological Explosion ( Chaos) Theory and is a geological fact .It may not happen at the time you expect, the place you expect , the form you expect ,but we pioneers have adopted this truth into our lives. In our lives of commitment to ethical change ,it is something we need to remember – it will help to keep that sacred flame burning – and it will bring about miracles! Although it may not be exactly when ,where or how we expected.; (incidentally this is a useful lesson for our egos,)it will always bring about positive results.
On another note ( though linked ,)we have just had two beautiful events –our Touch Trust Christmas Ball and our Touch Trust College of the Arts( post nineteen ,transitional) end of term Christmas party .Neither cost a lot to put on .For the Ball I wore my £5 charity shop gown and £1 pearls and was dressed ‘ to the nines’ ,as were all the other carers ,parents and friends. Nobody was drinking much as the alcohol was too expensive. The place buzzed with joy , happiness , fun and energy .The photographer ,Paul Fears ,parent of Greg ( see photos) gave his time free .The staff of St David’s Hotel in Cardiff Bay went out of their way for us and the singers of two choirs brought beautiful us beautiful music . .We raised £1000 .You could feel the happiness – you could cut it .This is good living ,giving and receiving ,helping and being kind .
Compare that with the big super markets ,( a subtle,wicked twist here ), where wonderful music is playing in their stores getting the happy endorphins rising ,adverts are shown in our homes appealing to our five basic “needs”, including the need to give ! And what they really want is for us to succumb to their central message that buying is the best way to the good life ; they see us as ‘ consumer objects’, fodder for their profit.
So lovely people ,keep up the passion ,be happy ,look after yourself –you are needed for the fight – be strong and love who you are so that you can love others.
My gifts for 2015;-
- Every day look in the mirror and say “I am a genius “
It will make you laugh( that’s a start ) –but you are- and gradually that knowledge will change your life .
- Spend five minutes a day thinking of something beautiful, listening to something beautiful ,looking at something beautiful. ( Goethe)
- “We are here to provide for all those who are weaker and hungrier, more battered and crippled than ourselves. That is our only good and certain purpose on earth.”
Michael Foot (Labour MP)
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Contemporary Outsider Art: the Global Context, Melbourne University, Australia.
23 – 25th October 2014
As Associate Artist with Project Ability, I recently joined forces with Elizabeth Gibson, Executive Artistic Director, Project Ability, Glasgow, to collaborate on a series of Conversations with contemporary outsider artists exploring a new critical language towards the definition of their practice.
We were very excited when we got the call to present this research at the Contemporary Outsider Art: the Global Context, Melbourne University, Australia. Trains plains automobiles and not forgetting the essential PA, booked and off we went to Australia!
The research involved having some of the most extraordinary enlightening and refreshing conversations with artists from Project Ability’s Re:Connect programme and Celf o Gwmpas about their own sense of self. Looking at defining a developing critical language with which to express their practice and give back ownership of their work in a contemporary outsider art landscape.
The artists all had a great sense of pride of their artistry and a strong sense of solidarity and belonging within a creative identity. It also seemed the role of the supported studio spaces at both Project Ability and Celf o Gwmpas also play a vital piece of the jigsaw for the artists to live as practicing artists. Providing them with peer support as well as professional artistic development, accessing exhibiting opportunities home and away whilst supporting them to apply for their own project funding and providing opportunities that they may not be able to access if it weren’t for the support of these artist studios. So I began to wonder how I should represent these conversations, these ideals at a conference that would be examining contemporary outsider art from a global context. A massive ask!
quotes from the research………..
Quote: Outsider art – I don’t think we should be on the outside should we? You are either an
artist or you’re not, it shouldn’t matter about your disabilities
Quote: I don’t like labels, I’m a person in my own right, but it is giving me access to exhibitions
Quote: “Is it outside of what? What’s Insider Art then? The term ‘Outsider Art’, in terms of the sound of it… I kind of like it. I like the idea of Outsider Art. To me it’s outside of the mainstream. It’s people doing things outside of the mainstream.”
Quote: “I would advise caution as well because there is a danger in personally
investing in that Outsider label and saying, ‘This is it; this is the ticket for me, this
could take me quite far’ then maybe three years down the line suddenly it’s a wilderness; there’s nothing there. So my instinct is to be cautious, but also optimism as well. It could go quite well, you know?”
Quote: “I consider myself kind of an outsider. … I think it is a whole lot of
mythologizing about people’s lives as well, you know, and I
want to do that bit myself. I want to mythologize myself!”
The conference
The conference began!
I was full of excitement and anticipation about being at the conference in Australia and presenting myself, my work as an artist and the collaborative research I’d done with Elisabeth Gibson, Director of Project Ability, Glasgow. At the conference I spent lots of time chatting, networking and listening to others in conversation whilst I captured unscreened moments of passion, will and testament of individuals and panel discussions on my drawings on my iPad.
There were three major themes to the conference and these included The Practices of Outsider artists, Collections of Outsider Art and Curated Exhibitions plus Outsider Art History and Theory.
It was a heady mix of, diehard academic presentations and key note speakers and global contexts exploring arts practices in supported art studios in China, Cambodia USA Israel/UK and Australia. Which was absolutely fascinating. I was especially interested in the supported studios that were coming from totally different cultures. It seemed to me that there could still be a common theme within all of the studios presented that connected them globally. That is enthusiasm for the artistry and the artist and a commonality of supporting the artist to make the work as they do naturally. There could even be commonalities in the aesthetic of some of the work as often learning and developmental disabilities are similar globally too.
There were also talks, panels discussions, comedic anecdotes and film screenings from artist studios and artists themselves. I really enjoyed hearing Carly Findlay talk about how she had used her experiences as a disabled woman with a facial disfigurement to create a blog and social network that supports others in a disabling world. The artists from The Dax Centre, artists with mental health identifying themselves as outsider artists, was comedic, ethereal and dam right down to earth. Brilliant! Some people found their continuous use of the word ‘mad’ un-PC! I myself saw this as a positive sign of ownership of their identity as people with a living experience of mental health and a sense of self within a disability art politic.
I did find the opening keynote lecture by Lynne Cooke, senior curator, special Projects in modern Art National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, both mesmerising and fascinating. I was definitely intrigued by her physicality and delivery of her lecture. Whist drawing I listened to Lynne tell us about the declassification of labels in order to create an even playing field on which all artists and participants within mainstream galleries could engage equally. It was reminiscent and aspirational. As a disabled artist and self taught artist our work as outside of the mainstream could and should be seen with a focus on difference and otherness. How hard a concept can this still be for the critics, theorists, curators and artists of contemporary art to engage with? Yet we still battle to get our work seen with a recognised discourse and on equal terms by the mainstream. A subtext running throughout was the question “Is this beginning to happen”?
The discourse of the Outsider Artist continued to be debated with vigour throughout the conference in the corridors, queuing for tea, over lunch and well into the night.
We were presenting in Stream 1, PRACTICES OF OUTSIDER ARTISTS. Our session was a panel lead discussion on the topic of Outsider Art or Social Inclusion? Facilitating art, positioning the studio.
Presentations from myself as well as, Art Enables USA, Project Ability, Glasgow, NIAD Arts Centre USA were enlightening, passionate and informative. Plus I was still seeing that common denominator that seems to be connecting us all. Enthusiasm for the artistry and the artist and a commonality of supporting the artist to make the work as they do naturally. It was interesting that some of the studios embraced the notion of Outsider Art and actively used the term as a form of artistry identity and others did not. But for me as an individual presenting myself, my art and my mentoring work with disabled artists, plus the collaboration with Project ability – I began to question what and where I was coming from. Why did I doubt myself, I’m not sure! Jet lag I think! Anyway I put my thoughts in order and told it as it is. After all I am a straight talking Yorkshire lass with a disability art politic!
And it worked! Our panel discussion went from disability art politics within work produce by artists in supported studios, to exploring the notions of ownership, arts practice and the rights of the artists, artworks within the supported art studios and its representation in the mainstream.
Panel Question – ‘Tanya Are u an Outsider artist’.……was one of the questions.
My answer was “NO! ……….My work is embedded in a disability art politic and centres around my sense of self and that of a disability identity! Therefore I see myself as an artist /disabled artist. Both identities are as important as the other.”
Highlights of the conference
There were many. I enjoyed capturing many of these moments in time on my iPad whilst listening intently to the Panel discussions by Dax artists, talks from Cambodia and China Outside the frame work of western art, keynote speeches by Lynne Cooke, Prof. Colin Rhodes, James Brett of Museum of Everything, an enigma and lover of the art made by artists outside of the mainstream, “the self taught, the stuffers, the makers, the scribblers……..”
One of the biggest highlights for me was our visit to Arts Project Ability. I completely felt at home entering into a studio with other artists creating, chatting and totally zoned in on the making of their art. Again seeing so many artistic processes and themed work that culturally connected us as artists and as disabled artists really good excited me. Wether we were outsiders or insiders it didn’t matter. It was again that commonality of just being artists that naturally connected us in that time and space! I saw artists making work about Frieda Kahlo, Elvis and work that had colonial historical content. For me I kept this visit in my mind throughout the conference constantly drawing from it. As if it wasn’t for the existence of the artists, these natural creators the whole debate wouldn’t exist!
So what’s next u might ask, post the conference!
For me New partnerships are about to emerge! I’m very excited about joining forces with Anna Arstein-Kerslake, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne to develop a project on human rights of disabled people’s right to access culture. Plus I’m delving into a research and development into the commonalities and differences of supported artists practices and supported studio practices in USA, including visits to, Amy Taub from Creativity Explored and Deb Dyer from the NIAD art centre both in San Francisco and Mary Liniger from Washington.
Our sincere thanks to Arts Project Australia and the University of Melbourne for hosting this event and to Creative Scotland for supporting our attendance.
Drawings by Artist Tanya Raabe-Webber
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Educate OUT Prejudice
We care about diversity and, I assume, equality. That’s why we are on this site is it not?
With an election looming we need to be on our toes. We need to be ready to challenge the lies and stereotypes that will unfortunately start to flow as the parties sink to the lowest common denominator.
It is useful to see that in areas like London, where a great many locally run state schools have embraced and celebrated diversity, there is little support for parties that seek to demonise immigrants. Though London can be said to be multi-cultural, employment is also high and schools constantly outperform their counterparts in other areas. Immigrants are not a problem, yet the media and the mainstream political parties keep them at the front of the agenda.
In the Essex seaside town of Clacton, however, the immigrant population is less than half the national average – yet wages are 20% below the national average, while the proportion of people dependent on benefits is higher.
In Kent – and Buckinghamshire – grammar schools and secondary moderns still exist and children are selected at 11. Kent’s local authority held on to section 28 for some years after it was repealed. It is there that we see prejudice and stereotypes abound and a growing support for political parties that want to blame immigrants for local joblessness. It was telling that recently a TV news programme asked residents of Ramsgate what percentage of immigrants were resident in the area and what the problems were. One woman was adamant that it was in the 80’s; whereas it is between 8 and 9%. One may wonder what has fed this erroneous estimate.
My guess is ignorance of the facts and a perpetual diet of misinformation. Because people seek scapegoats; they want to blame someone for their misfortunes – or perceived misfortunes – and political parties have down the centuries used ethnicity, sexual orientation religion, gender and/or disability.
The 2014 winter floods were blamed on lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people; disabled people claim too much benefit and are not ‘worth’ the minimum wage; it was not that long ago that equal pay for equal work was disputed and the reality is we still do not have it!
So we see politicians shifting the blame, making up stories such as one about ‘tourist benefit scroungers’ which they were unable to prove when challenged. They focus on the people who have less power and squeeze them; so we see disabled people being deprived of their benefits by inappropriate tests that have resulted in many deaths.
” By Nick Sommerlad on April 4, 2012 11:00 PM in Health
32 die a week after failing test for new incapacity benefit
More than a thousand sickness benefit claimants died last year after being told to get a job, we can reveal.
We’ve highlighted worries about the controversial medical tests for people claiming Employment Support Allowance which are being used to slash the country’s welfare bill.
The Government has boasted that more than half of new claimants are found “fit to work” – failing to mention that over 300,000 have appealed the decision and almost 40% have won.”
So we have seen the present Government’s policies have already cost lives. The policies being talked about: reducing the power of the Public Duty of the Equality Act; scrapping the Humans Rights Act and reducing immigration, which would mean leaving the EU and thereby the Human Rights Court as well.
The Stephen Lawrence Report of 1999 raised awareness of institutional prejudice and instigated much needed work in the criminal justice system, which meant that hate crime was taken more seriously. However, under the concept of ‘austerity’ we see the structures, training and culture that supported this work massively diluted.
We see the appalling result in an atrocious homophobic attack and totally inadequate response from both the CJS and NHS here http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/homophobia-in-microcosm-how-a-savage-gang-attack-tore-one-mans-whole-life-apart-9780443.html
We know what will happen if we do nothing.
Gordon Allport produced a really useful diagram explaining what happens if we do nothing (see below). It starts by enabling people to see the danger of using banter and inappropriate labels, which all too often people ignore or trivialise. This perpetual labelling feeds a culture of negativity and prejudice which quickly builds to social withdrawal from the target of that abuse. Once that is done the target is less known, so they can be demonised and seen as less human. This encourages discrimination, which further feeds the targeted group’s lack of worth in the perpetrators’ eyes and it is even seen as acceptable to attack members of the group physically. Dealing with that level of abuse often renders the target unable to go on; so they suicide or the dominant group feels justified or confident or enough to kill them.
It is our job as citizens to dispel the lies, challenge the prejudice, and educate OUT prejudice.
Sue Sanders chair LGBT History Month www.lgbthistorymonth.org.uk
Allport’s Scale
Extermination
Genocide
Murder
Suicide
Resignation
Physical Attack
Assault
Rape
Criminal damage
Physical bullying
Graffiti
Discrimination
In employment, education,
access to housing, health
care, services, goods etc.
Avoidance
Ignoring, excluding, invisilbilising, physical
withdrawal, not patronising businesses etc.
Anti-locution
Bad-mouthing, spiteful gossiping, creating
negative myths about people, anti-jokes, verbal
abuse, stereotyping