Our Stories & Spotlight

In 2020 Covid 19 struck and we found ourselves having to come up with innovative new ways to continue the Behind the Label (BTL) project. At the same time we also became painstakingly aware that the client group was:

1. Experiencing new issues as a result of Covid 19

2. Growing (as a result of job losses, relationship break ups, mental health issues many more were experiencing the themes common to BTL from homelessness to exclusion)

From this we created the idea of Behind the Mask with the goal of taking the learning from BTL and combining it with both the new issues that covid had brought into the mix and the older issues it had exasperated. We also saw the need to adapt our approach to cater for virtual meet ups and filming with people in the process.

Taking what we learned on the Behind the Label project and world developments in 2020 with Covid 19 we have created a new project concept entitled Behind the Mask targeted primarily at those who have or are experiencing homelessness in its many forms. Throughout the project we will create a series of short films which can be used in other settings. One of our goals is to work with high schools and disseminate the work to them, showing the films and creating discussion packs around this.

Our work challenges people’s assumptions about this community and the community’s assumptions about themselves and their capabilities.

TVO works closely with media company Multi Story Media Ltd. to create film content and do all filming. MSM create on all platforms - from digital to hard copies; social media to books; live work and film.

Working with Applied Film means people determine the media, the storytelling and the audience with MSM creating or co-working with projects in answer to the needs of the participants, the clients and the audience.

Working with the same approach and undergoing the same training as those in TVO means MSM work safely and sensitively with issue-based projects. They use formats that are non-intrusive and help people tell their stories.

Follow MSM on Facebook and for examples of the range of their work follow their YouTube Channel

Things began as normal this year with meetings to plan out the Behind the Label (BTL) activities and then in February one of our long-standing BTL participants passed away unexpectedly. While working with a vulnerable group we have almost inevitably lost individuals in the past, the passing of Matthew McLay hit the group hard – participants, mentors and staff. There were many reasons for this but perhaps the fact that Matt had come through so much and been with the project since its first day, changing his life throughout, contributed to the great sense of loss. Matt had turned his life around, had secured his own flat and was successfully living independently, managing his health problems and alcohol addiction, and was back in touch and a regular in the lives of his children and grandchildren. He also had influenced others with the positive changed he had achieved. We realised that we need to have meetings/workshops to work through and process the loss for all involved. This enabled a period of reflection both on the loss of Matt but for many of our clients, also on their own lives, their choices and the risks they live with. Less than three weeks following Matt’s funeral and in the midst of these workshops the UK was moved into a full lockdown.

Initially all came to a standstill although we maintained regular calls to check in on participants and peers on BTL. Once we realised that lockdown was going to continue for a lengthy period of time, we decided that we needed to look at how we could adapt our project to work with Covid restrictions and the subsequent limitations on meeting up and other activities.

We approached this by organising workshops through zoom and google meets. This was easier where we were working directly with organisations who could help facilitate this. However for individuals and those still experiencing homelessness it was more challenging.

Additional problems came in the form that:

• Covid presents a serious health threat to a vulnerable group as most of those we work with were already suffering from comorbidities. While one might expect this to have a reflective consequence of taking better care of oneself, for many in this group fear leads to a default of more self-destructive behaviour and placing oneself in dangerous situations.

• Many street homeless no longer had an avenue for begging or were visible on the streets for interaction to take place. As shops and restaurants closed street homeless no longer had avenues they had previously used for interaction and support in the street. Many felt more cut off and lonelier than before, many feared what was happening but had nobody to discuss facts with as opposed to conjecture that was spreading fast. Also the majority had little access to the news and did not understand what was happening and why.

• Many in this community already suffered with isolation and feeling marginalised. Covid exasperated this.

As time proceeded we set up more online checks and group online meetings where possible through the organisation where some individuals were based. We enhanced and extended our online training for our facilitators and for the peer mentors to support the changes Covid had brought and to look at alternative ways of conducting the content from our workshops and regular meetings to meet the situation.

We made smaller groups to work with facilitators and peer mentors online/by phone and then set up regular feedback sessions (on a weekly basis) with facilitators and peer mentors to see where we needed to improve, how we could do this and to ensure we were adapting to a regularly changing situation.

This was all key to the mental health issues which surfaced or worsened for many. In addition we had tentative interest which then grew from people who during the first lockdown found themselves suffering with mental issues, turning to alcohol/drugs and people who were experiencing homelessness for the first time due to the loss of work breakdown of a relationship. This was a new dimension to our community and again we found ourselves adapting to this and how we could best support them within the project.

When lockdown lifted, we began meetings in a new space based in Cardiff city centre – we continued these meeting throughout the period permitted by Covid restrictions and also used the time to keep preparing peer mentors and enabling them to grow in the work. In this area we saw significant and notable development among various individuals. The group meetings were especially supportive for working through mental health issues and coping mechanisms for the pandemic. We also attempted to put better measures in place for a possible return to lockdown.

We were fully aware that a production was not a possibility this year and so we decided to work with some of the returning group members who already had confidence to perform and create a one-hour filmed show. It aimed to educate people on them being a marginalised group trying to cope with Covid, the restrictions, the stagnation of their lives in new and different ways and also, as always, to have fun light-hearted moments where they could laugh at themselves and the situation (something which has always been key to our work is developing the ability to do this in order to prevent a situation becoming too overwhelming).

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One participant remembered what she felt like on the first day, ‘Starting out, there were all different people and all different experiences in one room – am I suited? Can I relate to people? Everyone’s the same as me really…… how not to judge is what I learnt’. The TVO sessions featured a lot of games, exercises and discussions aimed at participants understanding themselves, what motivates or demotivates them, confidence and body language, exploring how they can value their life experience and realise their full potential.

As with all TVO courses nothing is set in stone and we worked with the energy in the room and the needs of the particular group on the day. It’s led to some fascinating sessions and some very special moments.

The WISE mentor and co-ordinator at The Wallich, Liz Warburton told us she’s still getting responses from participants long after they’ve left. ‘They might have had a light-bulb moment when they’re working, or doing something and a bit of the course suddenly pops into their heads! I got an email recently from one participant who graduated last year, just wanting me to know that he gets what we were on about now’.

The latest participants have just graduated and the response has been so encouraging that WISE is expanding to cover 2 bases in south Wales Cardiff and Swansea.

The performance is a unique experience. It’s very intimate with a maximum of 3 chairs to each performer. The audience experience up to 9 very personal stories and are left with their own thoughts and feelings about what they’ve just heard. It’s never written down. It’s a created piece learned through repetition.

Initially Dawn was dubious. Her treatment for breast cancer affected her memory and she worried that she would struggle to get through the piece. She loved performing though and was willing to give it a go. On the night she found the techniques worked and her story flowed effortlessly. The experience helped her get her confidence back.

She very kindly adapted one of her performances, which we’re delighted to share with you here. It’s a lovely memory of her.

Dawn Sheldon

1961 - 2016

CONFESSIONS is a TVO workshop.

• Ideal for exploring our own stories, the dark and the light.

• Creating monologues for actors

• Self confidence

"In a performance that is funny, entertaining, and simultaneously heart breaking, what stands out is the courage of all participants to take ownership of their stories and speak out on their terms."