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Shed Loads of Happiness Community Groups Highlight - Sutton STEAMS Ahead
Shed Loads of Happiness project gives spotlight to Sutton’s communities
Throughout 2023 local Sutton residents have been assembling one of the borough’s most wholesome projects of the year. Following an open call, which offered a small amount of funding, several community groups were selected to run activities and workshops with their members, exploring what happiness means to them. The aim was to curate a “shed load of happiness” to be showcased during the outstanding Sutton STEAM Fair, and beyond. Amidst challenging and stressful times, and with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF), the ‘Shed Loads of Happiness’ project celebrates the diversity and joy of Sutton, and provides a snapshot on happiness and wellbeing in the Borough.
The various communities naturally took different approaches since starting the NLHF-assisted project earlier in the year. ACHA, Sutton’s African and Caribbean Heritage Association, undertook various workshops in a range of creative areas such as crochet, storytelling and collage. Over the course of these workshops, they settled on the idea to theme their shed around the concept of the 'front room'. Using materials they made during workshops to decorate it, along with personal possessions and treasures from members, the group were spurred by referring to photographs and memories from younger days. At the Sutton STEAM Fair, the ACHA shed became a homely front room, with an armchair, replica radiogram, curtains, wallpaper, ornaments, music...and many other things!
The various communities naturally took different approaches since starting the NLHF-assisted project earlier in the year. ACHA, Sutton’s African and Caribbean Heritage Association, undertook various workshops in a range of creative areas such as crochet, storytelling and collage. Over the course of these workshops, they settled on the idea to theme their shed around the concept of the 'front room'. Using materials they made during workshops to decorate it, along with personal possessions and treasures from members, the group were spurred by referring to photographs and memories from younger days. At the Sutton STEAM Fair, the ACHA shed became a homely front room, with an armchair, replica radiogram, curtains, wallpaper, ornaments, music...and many other things!
ACHA Members reflected on their experiences of participating, saying:
Very interesting to listen to others stories – Sonia
Very engaging and emotive, took me back – Emerald
It refreshes the memory of my youth - Lucille
Very therapeutic working with the group, learning to create [my] own ideas, reminds me of my younger years. – Chantelle
It was such a joyful experience to crochet again after so many years. – Elizabeth
Very engaging and emotive, took me back – Emerald
It refreshes the memory of my youth - Lucille
Very therapeutic working with the group, learning to create [my] own ideas, reminds me of my younger years. – Chantelle
It was such a joyful experience to crochet again after so many years. – Elizabeth
Advocacy For All invited and supported two of their groups to engage with the project; ‘Speak Up Sutton’ for adults and ‘Action Voices’ for young people. They explored photography, learning how photos tell a story and picking up several tips on how to snap a good picture. With their newfound camera skills, and some artfully-constructed crafts and collages, they were set to muse on all the things that made them happy.
Advocacy For All members said:
Talking to my niece makes me really happy. Going to coffee shops, people watching, having a good look at the airport. – Rory
Making cards and family, getting out of the house for Speak up Sutton. – Lucy
Being with my family and friends and part of the community. - Roger
Going out to see friends, I love Speak up Sutton and going to college. – Anthony
Music and going out to lunch makes me happy. – Sharon
Making cards and family, getting out of the house for Speak up Sutton. – Lucy
Being with my family and friends and part of the community. - Roger
Going out to see friends, I love Speak up Sutton and going to college. – Anthony
Music and going out to lunch makes me happy. – Sharon
Sutton Hong Kongers, facilitated by Hong Kong Counsellors Hub, met in Little Holland House for their ‘Joyful Moment’ workshops. Sessions were aimed at community ‘elders’ and centred around mindfulness techniques, which focused on the five senses (Hear, Smell, Sight, Taste and Touch). Various craft activities complemented these sessions, including decorating lampshades, which very much tapped into the legacy of Frank and Florence Dickinson’s Arts & Crafts heritage. By targeting this group within the community, the facilitators wanted to highlight how their life experiences, memories, and stories inspire how we walk through life.
Pandora Liu, one of the facilitators for the group, said:
At the end of the group sessions, the participants shared that the workshop was healthy for their mental health and that they felt less isolated. Regarding the exhibition, the participants also expressed that it was very meaningful to join the STEAM Fair on 1 July. They felt integrated while joining with the other community groups at the Fair.
Mohiniyattam is a classical dance form with graceful, circular dance movements and hand gestures - these gestures are called ‘mudras’. MASS, the Malayalee Association Sutton Surrey, engaged with a mix of generations for their project, exploring how sharing and passing on cultural heritage across generations was important to them, and how it influenced happiness. The group looked into mohiniyattam and mudras, trying it for themselves to the delight of all within view. After the young ones adopted the unfamiliar movements and adults masked their embarrassment over losing their balance, they brought their cultural experience to their shed.
The Men in Sheds group, organised by Community Action Sutton and facilitated by writer Michelle Innis, explored poetry, an exercise which proved to be an interesting and unexpected experience for the members. After meeting up, analysing existing poetry and communally creating their own poem, the members of the group completed the project; reflecting on their experience of participating with impressions such as ‘Contemplative’, ‘Reflective’, ‘Enjoyable and friendly’.
Sutton Music Trust engaged their Youth Voice Council to develop ideas for their project, which creatively reflected on the results of an earlier yearly survey circulated to students - the survey overwhelmingly indicated that music is very important to the majority of children and young people. Along with drawings and paintings illustrating ‘what music means to me’, their shed featured a musical soundtrack throughout the day as well as a performance from Shanelle Rudrigo, a young Sutton-based guitar-playing singer-songwriter and finalist for The Voice UK 2023!
For their workshops, Time Out Youth Project facilitators built on the success of their ‘Skate for your Mind' initiative, which aims to promote the mental health benefits of taking part in sports such as skateboarding. Workshops included skateboard design competitions (with the winning design becoming a reality), plus sessions and creative exercises around positive affirmations and mindfulness. Their beautifully decorated shed displayed the incredible-looking custom skateboard deck, along with hand decorated skate helmets, collage canvases, a worry tree, and a positive affirmation mirror activity which invited members of the public to participate in.
Sutton Mental Health Foundation (SMHF) enlisted the services of artist and arts facilitator Anna Viryaban of Intuit Art for their project. Anna devised an activity called ‘Flip’ for the group's workshops. Centred around the ideas of trust, listening, conversation, exchange and creativity as being important to many SMHF service users, Flip invited participants to take part in a creative and collaborative conversation with another person. The results of the workshops were presented at the Sutton STEAM Fair in a beautifully designed booklet, and an engaging slide show. Visitors to the fair, young and old, were also invited to participate in the exercise with resulting drawings adding to the groups displays.
All the groups’ efforts built towards the Sutton STEAM Fair family day on Saturday 1 July 2023 where all the sheds took pride of place in Trinity Square on Sutton High Street. Various group members came out, full of smiles, representing their cultural backgrounds, personal connections and cherished possessions, to intrigued fair-goers. With music performances and table top activities available, it was hard to not be amused and charmed by the Shed Loads of Happiness display.
All the groups’ efforts built towards the Sutton STEAM Fair family day on Saturday 1 July 2023 where all the sheds took pride of place in Trinity Square on Sutton High Street. Various group members came out, full of smiles, representing their cultural backgrounds, personal connections and cherished possessions, to intrigued fair-goers. With music performances and table top activities available, it was hard to not be amused and charmed by the Shed Loads of Happiness display.
However, the Shed Loads of Happiness project did not finish then! Over summer 2023 and running into the autumn, an exhibition reflecting on the project and sharing outputs from the groups various activities will be on show at Whitehall Historic House in Cheam. During this exhibition each group will be highlighted in turn; every two weeks the content will be swapped in order to display the breadth and variety of engagement experienced through this project.
And if that isn’t enough reasons to enjoy the summer in Sutton, there’s the ‘Stories from the Shed’ series of events taking place across the borough. The series sees several individuals and organisations across many creative fields hosting events from performances, to workshops to storytelling. Families and people of all ages are spoiled for entertainment this summer. Check the What’s On page for full details of events that are sure to make you happy!
And if that isn’t enough reasons to enjoy the summer in Sutton, there’s the ‘Stories from the Shed’ series of events taking place across the borough. The series sees several individuals and organisations across many creative fields hosting events from performances, to workshops to storytelling. Families and people of all ages are spoiled for entertainment this summer. Check the What’s On page for full details of events that are sure to make you happy!