SWAP/Open Eye Hub project reflections
I recently came to the end of my work with SWAP, the asylum seeker support organisation in Wigan where I’ve been working on a project commissioned by Open Eye Hub. I’ve worked on long projects before but never this long for a commissioned, group-based socially engaged project – and I have learned A LOT.
So much of what I have learned has been about the value of taking time and tapping into the energy of a space and/or a group. Of not rushing to produce outputs but instead being patient and really recognising the conversations (or even snippets of conversation) are part of the process. I knew this intellectually before but I understand it much better now.
I’ve been reflecting on these experiences and crunching the numbers, for myself as much as anything else.
Since starting in January 2024, I’ve made 47 visits to SWAP. Some of those have been highly productive in terms of participant numbers and doing creative stuff. Others involved me chatting to people much more one-to-one, and sometimes largely via Google Translate. I brought my own kids to a few sessions during the school holidays. None of that time was wasted – it all contributed to me getting to know the staff, volunteers and women who they support and I know that the trust it built enabled me to pull a few women into the work who are fairly challenging to engage for all kinds of reasons.
Due to the nature of being within the asylum system – without agency and at the mercy of the Home Office and their case – there was some ‘churn’ over the time when I was at SWAP. Participants dropped in and out and new people appeared at different points. During the project, 23 women worked with me enough to sign consent forms – some others dipped in briefly but never got to that point.
The map and pins/threads was a very useful visual aid; it showed I worked with women from 20 different countries.
This project was well supported in all kinds of ways. As well as the women themselves, I also worked closely with staff from SWAP (especially Jes), volunteers (especially Rosie), and collaborated a couple of times with the women from Project Linus, a voluntary craft/textiles group who visit SWAP once a month. Annie, the producer from Open Eye Hub, was brilliant and attended a number of our sessions/outings. In the latter stages of the project, I worked with textile artist Lou Miller to plan and construct the banner which became the final output of the project – Lou came to a workshop to work this through with participants.
There was a lovely run at the end of the project of women who had worked with me receiving positive news with their asylum cases: a family from Iran, a family from Iraqi Kurdistan, and women from Rwanda, Albania, Ethiopia and Namibia. Although this is what everyone is hoping for, once you graduate from asylum seeker to refugee, life becomes quite challenging – moving from having no agency to quickly having to find somewhere to live, work etc.
I asked a few women about their experience of the project. Mihret said: “I enjoyed everything because it was different activities and visits and walks. The activities got people sitting together and mixing and sharing their culture. It’s good to know about the other women.”
Fershteh said: “I enjoyed the photography most of all, I learned a lot. I was relaxed and now take photos by myself too so I’m very happy. It made me want to come back to SWAP. I enjoyed the trips we went on together. I found my best friend here at SWAP, at one of these sessions. When I’m here I don’t think about anything, I relax, enjoy and am happy.”
SWAP women’s work on display in the Makinson Arcade, Wigan.