Art & Soul
Art & Soul is an informal creative space for women seeking asylum (or with refugee status) in Leicester. We bring together people from a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds and age groups, with a wealth of wisdom and experience; in this space people can build friendships, process some of their experiences and support one another. Let us know if you’d like to join in!
(For practical support services, see the Signposting Template HERE! We end up doing a fair bit of triaging at our Art & Soul gatherings, when practical needs arise that one of Leicester's fantastic charities can support with.)
Humanity, dignity and agency
Within the asylum system there is a crushing lack of agency: many of those seeking asylum have little opportunity to make decisions for themselves about their own lives, including where or how they live or what they eat, and are moved around from place to place at a moment’s notice with what seems like very little care given to the process. This can feel profoundly dehumanising, particularly over a long period of time. Offering a welcoming space where people have opportunity to rest, be creative, meet others and share something of who they are if they choose to do so, can restore something of a person’s sense of human dignity. Also creating opportunity for mutually supportive friendships to begin and grow can have a transformative effect on the lives of people who may have felt deeply isolated.
Communication
Language can often be a challenge at Art & Soul – we don’t shy away from this but engage with playfulness and gentleness. We grapple with translation apps and impromptu charades where needed. Over hot drinks and snacks we share something of our stories, our hearts and our lives as we journey together, and we navigate the curveballs of the asylum system as those arise. We listen to one another's favourite music, share childhood memories and traditions, and sometimes dance together. There is always laughter, sometimes tears, and we hold space for one another to process life's experiences.
We see this space as holy ground: God is at work in all of it and cares deeply about each person. By offering this space where people can feel valued, welcomed and respected, we seek to express something of God’s abundant love. With sensitivity and where appropriate we can explore big questions, stories, beliefs and experiences of faith where there is appetite for this, though this is not the focus of the group.
Roots and Art & Soul
Any Roots members who have a passion for this work are welcome to explore possibilities around how they might be involved with Art & Soul sessions! We would love to bring people together and expand this ministry, and there are a variety of different ways to get involved. (Get in touch with Kat if you’d like to explore this!)
There is also an open invitation to all Art & Soul attendees to come along to other Roots gatherings. These tend to involve prayer for one another, exploring passages of the Bible together, discipleship conversations, intercultural worship in various forms and styles, and opportunity to build relationships with other believers from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds in a space of mutual learning and collective growth - and sometimes food! We endeavour to make our gatherings as accessible as possible to Art & Soul members and others.
Pastoral Support & Churches
A number of people connected to different churches across the city have expressed a desire for some kind of contact with asylum seekers and refugees, and through the relationships we build at Art & Soul we are able to put people in touch with one another for ongoing prayer and support where appropriate. We also identify concrete needs that local churches may be able to fulfil. All of this takes place within our safeguarding frameworks.
For 1-1 pastoral support, we have a small team of people who are trained, equipped and supported to engage in this important ministry. Let us know if you’d like to explore being part of that team, and we can have a chat together about what it might involve and what the process looks like.
For practical needs, there are so many different possibilities - get in touch if you'd like to be involved, and we can explore it together. Also if you have something specific in mind that you’d like to offer or a particular gift you’d like to express within this context, do let us know and we can figure out how it might work! And if you’d like to give towards this ministry, either through providing particular kinds of art supplies, kids' gifts, giving financially or giving of your time in other ways, please do get in touch - we’d love to chat with you about it.
