We are now on the final part of the journey from Accumul8 chutneys and jams to an exhibition of photographs, and it has been a real learning journey. That journey is one of transition, not just that of the Accumul8 group, but also for myself. The Accumul8 project has to be one of the most rewarding learning experiences that I have had in 15 years of an education based career. I have learnt about humbleness, expectations, values, trust and respect. Sometimes the learning has been hard and I have had to learn to just accept that sometimes, a little is enough and to be satisfied. Something that rubs up against privilege and ambition and middle class drive. Sometimes the grass isn’t always greener, it is green enough and we can all sit on it and share and just enjoy it.

So, as we end this part of the journey there have been a few more wonderful highlights that I wanted to share. Accumul8 got a wonderful full page write up in The Voice (thanks to the wonderful Emma Carboni). All during the week, Emma has been emailing me with updates on the Accumul8 “raising awareness” campaign. And then I got an email which said “Full bloody page in The Voice” and you could feel the excitement overload buzzing over the internet!

On Wednesday this week, was the visit to Ravensbourne, the college where I work. Ravensbourne have been brilliantly supportive of Accumul8, they have paid for the student helpers (lovely Robyn and Sanchez), are paying for the printing of the photographs for the exhibition and have loaned us all the equipment and cameras for the workshops. It’s a small, specialist college and they are, indeed, very, very special to Accumul8! (We just couldn’t have done the photography project without them).

The Accumul8 group had a tour round the building, a talk about all the different courses on offer at Ravensbourne and then we got down to selecting the final 80 prints for the exhibition, this is from a total of 1100 photographs that the Accumul8 group has taken over the past four months (not an easy task!). The countdown to the big show is beginning, it all feels very real and ever so slightly scary!.

The Accumul8 exhibition is less than two weeks away, and this weekend we are starting to frame up the images. All of a sudden, from viewing the images on a laptop, we are now seeing the finished photographs, in frames, ready to exhibit. We have already sold some of the work. I am, of course, hoping to sell alot more.

This blog is ending with a photo of the Accumul8 group after the visit and outside the iconic Ravensbourne building. It’s been a long, learning journey from making chutneys and jams in tiny church kitchen to a prestigious photography exhibition at The Couch End Festival. I’ve truly loved every minute of it.

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