Refugees and Asylum seekers UK | Amplify Leeds
Channel: InsightShare
Date: 14/08/2015

Nestled in the heart of Christ Church community in Armley, “The Meeting Point” is a weekly drop in centre that feeds, clothes and supports up to 60 refugees and asylum seekers from all over Leeds. As part of the participatory video training led by InsightShare for the Young Foundation’s project, ‘Amplify Leeds’, regular users shot a devised this film with two purposes: to introduce the team to the centre and to celebrate their local heroes.

In this film, regular users Christiana, Parveen and Yamaoundow take us on a tour around Upper Armley to describe the meaning of the centre for the refugees and asylum seekers who use the service and the volunteers. Members of this group benefit from having a commonplace to talk with others in the same situation and to learn or improve their level of English.

Some women open up about their journey through complicated situations back home that eventually made them seek asylum in the UK, experiencing trauma, anxiety and depression along the way. Being part of this group, sometimes just to talk to people, has helped users to manage their stress levels.

This video is part of the "Amplify Leeds: Asylum, Homelessness and Unemployment" playlist. This playlist features the participatory videos produced in a joint project between The Young Foundation, InsightShare, Leeds City Council and The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, aimed at identifying the new ideas, networks and partnerships transforming the city.

From April to June 2015, InsightShare led three participatory video trainings in Leeds with the Young Foundation as part of their ongoing action research programme to "Amplify Leeds". In total, 35 people attended the trainings, producing 11 films.

Each film represents a reflection of their interests, celebrating their local heroes and communities and highlight the individuals and organisations that have helped them. The participants chose to tackle issues which reflect their own personal experiences, including seeking asylum, homelessness and unemployment.

These participatory videos were screened to councillors and other stakeholders, as well as at numerous community screenings around the city including at a community showcase event on 22nd March 2015. A bicycle-powered cinema got everyone involved in this fantastic screening event, attended by people from across communities in Leeds, social innovators, funders, and leaders in the city.

This project was facilitated by InsightShare in partnership with The Young Foundation. InsightShare is a community development organisation committed to improving and shaping the use of Participatory Video in all its forms. As leading practitioners in the field of Participatory Video, we have dedicated ourselves to delivering transformational projects with some of the world’s most marginalised communities and Indigenous Peoples. We have directly facilitated hundreds of projects in over sixty countries, working with diverse peoples to address a wide variety of issues. 

We support people to use video for: advocacy, research, programme design, innovation, monitoring and evaluation and community engagement. 

InsightShare uses videos to empower citizens, enhance research and drive innovation. So can you. 

https://insightshare.org 

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