Accumulate – The Art School for The Homeless

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A new academic year and brings fresh focus for Accumulate

We are Accumulate and we are the first Art School for the Homeless. Based in London, we provide art school level tuition by professional tutors for people who often feel excluded from regular education system. We work with participants from hostels from all over the capital. We offer each participant the opportunity to find empowerment and the chance to further their education through creativity.

 

Our course offer is extensive. Joining the Accumulate course means a participant can study a wide range of creative mediums. Our workshops include photography, fashion, visual arts, illustration and film which gives the group room to fully explore their creativity. We work in collaboration with major cultural institutions, universities and industry professionals to support our group’s learning.

This year Accumulate is super ambitious! Our course starts course in October running all the way through to June 2020. We offer progression routes via our scholarship scheme onto the Access course at Ravensbourne University London. From there the Accumulate participants go onto the BA course. This is significant as it gives participants the chance to gain a university education which otherwise may not have been possible.

 

Thank you for following along on our journey. We can’t wait to share with you our new programme of workshops starting this Autumn. Watch this space….there is SO much to come!

Accumulate gets National Lottery Funding!

Accumulate wins National Lottery Funding

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This week we got a most glorious email in the post telling us that we have won National Lottery Funding to run our Photography workshops next year. Winning funding like this is a real endorsement and celebration of our work, how what we do helps vulnerable young people to improve their lives and the difference creativity makes to them and their futures, so this totally made our day!

Accumulate gets National Lottery Funding!

Accumulate gets National Lottery Funding!

Along with this bumper news, the second issue of the Accumulate DECAY zine has been printed and is even better than we had expected!

Every zine is mega packed with amazing images, words, poems, designs and photographs made by 21 young people who took part in the Accumulate zine workshops and who live at the Evolve Housing hostel in Stockwell, South London. And as usual, every DECAY zine we sell will help fund our future creative workshops at hostels.

You can get DECAY at Youth Sub Culture‘s shop at 3 Carnaby St, Carnaby, London W1F 9PB and we will also be selling DECAY at events and zine fairs in the lead up to Christmas. The next zine fair we will be at is Cultural Traffic on 8th October at Kachette, 347 Old Street, EC1 VLP.

Please do follow us on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts to get ongoing details and info on where Accumulate will be selling. We are also going to be producing t.shirts, tote bags, posters and badges with designs from DECAY in the lead up to Christmas – so please think of Accumulate and the difference you can make by getting all of your groovy Christmas gifts from us.

Issue 2 of DECAY

Issue 2 of DECAY

 

And here are the Accumulate DECAY art prints being printed – looking good and the perfect Christmas gift for all the family!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Crep Protect and The Accumul8 Scholarship

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Crep Protect are a cool company, they are even cooler as they are changing someone’s life by funding a scholarship for an Accumul8 participant to study on the year long Access to HE course in design and digital media at Ravensbourne College. We asked them why and this is what they said….. (we love them even more now!)

“Crep Protect , created by 3 brothers from London’s district of Kingsbury , 3 brothers who had a simple desire to keep their sneakers fresh and to share the product with close friends / family and maybe a few retailers .
From humble beginnings – self funded , even when there were no funds available , to now just a few years later , to where the business currently stands , distributed in 52 countries and retailed in the most exclusive sneaker boutiques as well as all of the major players.

The reason that Crep Protect gets involved in opportunities such as this is because to a man , we have on occasion been paper close to losing everything that we have , we have been in the situation where you feel lost and helpless , yearning for someone to care , for someone to give you just a little lift , to get you off your knees and get you moving forward .
We know that feeling of everything being lost , so we know that if we can do something good for someone else , for no reason than the fact that we can , that we should , then maybe someone else will do the same .
When we are up and running ,when we are doing well , we should never forget to look around , to look and see who needs that little nudge , that opportunity to show that they are worthy , that they are talented and that they should not be measured by the situation that they find themselves in .
This is why we care – because it very easily could be any of us.”

So, if anyone out there relates to Crep Protect’s story and wants to help, feels inspired and can change a young, homeless person’s life by helping to fund an Accumul8 scholarship then we would love to hear from you, and you can find out more on our pledges page here

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Shoreditch Shoots and the Accumul8 Gang

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This week we went to Autograph’s premises in Shoreditch. It is the home of the Association of Black Photographers and we were really privileged to be shown the archive of photographs by black and diverse photographers, hear about the organisation and learn about a wealth of photographic work with huge cultural and historical importance.

Ali Eissa from Autograph in Shoreditch shows off the wonders of their archive to the Accumul8 participants.

Ali Eissa from Autograph in Shoreditch shows off the wonders of their archive to the Accumul8 participants.

About 95% of Accumul8’s participants this year are from Black and Ethnic Minority backgrounds and so this visit and significant relevance and importance to them and was something that they could all relate to.

The amazing and inspirational Gisela Torres then led the photography workshop around the streets of Shoreditch, with the students from Ravensbourne assisting and supporting the Accumul8 participants to take the best possible shots in the lead up to their exhibition at The Guardian.

Goda from Ravensbourne, Younnes from Freedom from Torture and Geron from East London YMCA on the Accumul8 Shoreditch Shoot.

Goda from Ravensbourne, Younnes from Freedom from Torture and Geron from East London YMCA on the Accumul8 Shoreditch Shoot.

The participants, who are from 9 different hostels across London, are now friends with each other, sharing their images and being open about their work and aspirations within the project. It is so amazing how the impact of this project goes beyond learning about photography and encourages confidence, communication skills and pride in the participants.

Gisela Torres, an Accumul8 tutor, shares her photography wisdom and skills with Jay and Alex, two Accumul8 participants on the Shoreditch Shoots photography workshop.

Gisela Torres, an Accumul8 tutor, shares her photography wisdom and skills with Jay and Alex, two Accumul8 participants on the Shoreditch Shoots photography workshop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Learning and sharing photography skills and making new friends as well.

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Learning new skills is just one aspect of the Accumul8 photography workshops, yes – the main focus is learning about photography, but other stuff happens – which is just as exciting, rewarding and nourishing as the excitement of taking great photographs. Friendships are made between groups of young people that would not have met before, social skills are built and new places and parts of London are discovered and visited that include its museums and galleries. To have over 50 young people energised to visit a museum and feel comfortable in it is a serious accomplishment, no longer do these places seem out of bound or not for them. So far, we have had Accumul8 workshops at Tate Modern, Somerset House, The Barbican and Sulger-Buel Lovell Gallery in Southwark.  Along with learning photography techniques, the Accumul8 group have had talks from practising photographers about their work and their careers, visited exhibitions and also overcome personal challenges to ask strangers to have their portraits taken. All part of their learning and opening up to new opportunities, wherever they may be.

Learning and sharing photography skills

Learning and sharing photography skills

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Accumul8 photography sessions are go!

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9 hostels, 36 participants, 6 student helpers, 2 film makers, 1 amazing tutor and a whole lot of energy – the Accumul8 photography workshops have started! There is such a positive vibe from having such a diverse cross section of people attending from all different backgrounds. Friendships are being made by people who just wouldn’t normally meet but are connecting because they are taking pleasure and excitement in being involved in a creative activity and learning something new, skills are being developed and positive experiences are being built that will help people increase their confidence, well-being and self esteem – which is what Accumul8 aims to do. Positive change is happening, on a localised level, but with an impact that changes lives and futures.

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The first Accumul8 photography workshop of 2017

Learning about shutter speed, depth of field and apertures

Learning about shutter speed, depth of field and aperture

Concentrating and taking images

Concentrating and taking images

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Accumul8 photography workshops – all set to go!

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This month we are starting the Accumul8 photography workshops for young people who have been affected by homelessness and we have some amazing partners for the project including Tate Modern, The Barbican, Somerset House, The Photographers’ Gallery and The Guardian.

When the Accumul8 photography workshops were set up, in 2014, we worked with just one hostel – the North London YMCA Hostel in Crouch End. This year we are very excited to be working with nine hostels across London, so a major organisational activity!, and we will be extending the good work we do to places like Stonewall Housing, that supports members of the LGBT community, and also Freedom from Torture, who help and support victims or witnesses of torture. Other hostels that are participating are East London YMCA Hostel, North London YMCA Hostel, the Evolve group of hostels and Caritas Anchor Housing.

What’s even better is two of the participants from last year’s Accumul8 programme will be joining us as workshop facilitators. It is really wonderful to see the transition that Accumul8 makes to peoples’ lives and nothing evidences this more than when they want to come back and help others who were in the position that they were in a year ago. So, welcome Dan Fifield and Sam Adesanya – you will be super role models and mentors for Accumul8 2017.

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Dan Fifield, once an Accumul8 participant, now an Accumul8 photography mentor, with his work at the Accumul8 exhibition 2016.

Sam Adesanya with Marice Cumber

Sam Adesanya with Marice Cumber, founder of Accumul8, at the Accumul8 exhibition 2016. Sam won the Accumul8 photography scholarship and is now studying Design and Digital Media at Ravensbourne.

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The Accumul8 DECAY zine – it’s here and it’s glorious!

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So the Accumul8 zine called DECAY is finally here, – edited, designed, printed and available. It looks cool, real cool and is full of the random thoughts, ideas, drawings and writings of a group of young people who are living at the North London YMCA Hostel in Crouch End. Every week the group gathered together and sat round a big table in the canteen and just drew, wrote and explored and expressed their thoughts. Calmness prevailed and everyone worked together towards a common goal, the production of their own zine.

Shana drawing for the Accumul8 DECAY zine

Shana drawing for the Accumul8 DECAY zine

Working together for the Accumul8 DECAY zine

Working together for the Accumul8 DECAY zine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a lot of midnight sweat on scanning, editing and designing the Accumul8 Zine came to life and DECAY arrived. And we love it.

Summertime

Summertime

DECAY zine cover

DECAY zine cover

Cos People Get Scared

Cos People Get Scared

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many many huge thanks to the ever so creative and brilliant Brian Baderman for leading on the workshops and and to the lovely student helpers from Ravensbourne for collaborating on DECAY. It’s been a great project and look out for Issue 2, coming in the springtime for you to peruse, savour and delight in.

A happy DECAY reader

A happy DECAY reader

In other news, Marice Cumber, founder and director of Accumul8, won the prestigious Social Entrepreneur Leader of the Year award from the UK Leadership Awards. Fab to have the recognition and that other people can see the value of what Accumul8 is trying to achieve for young people who are homeless and deserve something better in life.

Marice Cumber, Founder of Accumul8, with her Social Entrepreneur of the Year award.

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The Accumul8 Magazine Project – DECAY

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Accumul8 has started a new project with the young people living at the North London YMCA Hostel – creating stories, images and content that will be collated together, edited and produced into a magazine. The magazine is going to be called DECAY and it will be representative of all the creativity, ideas and imaginations of the hostel residents. DECAY is a collaboration between the young hostel residents and also the students at Ravensbourne and shows what can be produced in a collaborative, supportive environment where inner voices are encouraged and people feel safe to explore their ideas and imagination.

Abdul writing a poem for the Decay. Abdul has arrived from Syria, speaks no English, and this was his first day in the hostel.

Abdul writing a poem for the Decay. Abdul has arrived from Syria, speaks no English, and this was his first day in the hostel.

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Brian is leading the workshop, he is also the “scribe” for people’s stories

Nadia, from Ravensbourne College, and Kenny, from the NLYMCA hostel, collaborate on a drawing for the DECAY magazine

Nadia, from Ravensbourne College, and Kenny, from the NLYMCA hostel, collaborate on a drawing for the DECAY magazine

Accumulate Scholarship winners Luke and Jay with Linda Drew, Head of Ravensbourne College

Scholarships

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