Who do we help? How can we help?

WHO DO WE HELP?

Primarily we help anyone who is socially excluded or people who are suffering from 'status loss' and 'discrimination' as a result of social stigma (i.e. social disapproval from wider society).

The criteria for deciding who we help and why is the 'status loss' and discrimination from wider society, and our beneficiaries can come from any one of the three major groups of people affected by social stigma.

1. People affected by visual social stigma:

This includes the disabled, mentally handicapped, people affected by physical or mental handicap.

2. People affected by social stigma from the way they live:

This includes the homeless, alcoholics, drug abusers, gays, lesbians, the transgendered, people dependent on welfare, ex-offenders, sex workers, the disabled, and anyone else who is subjected to social exclusion.

3. People affected by 'tribal' social stigma:

This includes people of certain, specific religious beliefs or ethnic backgrounds who are subjected to social stigma, status loss and discrimination for belonging to a group of people who are stigmatized.

HOW DO WE HELP THESE PEOPLE?

We work with other charities, organizations and institutions who give us access to the disaffected people we seek to help. However we also work on a referral basis where for example we have been given space by a local authority or government agency and we set up our own indepedent projects.

We do not work to solve the primary issues of our beneficiaries, for example our projects working with the homeless are not designed to solve their homelessness, which we leave for our partner charity to deal with. What we do is provide meaningful occupation through our workshops, training and productions together with effective strategies to overcome social stigma and social exclusion which enable the people we work with to be able to make a fresh start and stand on their own two feet in order to make their way back into society.

All of our projects, workshops and training are participant-centred, which means that the people we help are the ones who - under our guidance and support - set up, run and manage their own projects. We provide the workshops, materials, training and also a support network which includes a very strong referral base of organizations and bodies which deal with such issues as employment, training, education, substance misuse, advice and advocacy.

What we do is that we work directly with the people we help, challenging them to use their skills and talents, motivating them, developing their self-confidence, self-esteem and working with them to enable them to make much more positive life choices and work towards making a successful fresh start.

WE RECOGNIZE PEOPLE FOR BEING HUMAN.