Transcript
Justin Bankwa
I founded the Discovery of the Talents in 2006 just six months after I arrived in the United Kindom. When I arrived I couldn’t speak English and desperately wanted some support but couldn’t find any. That’s why I had the idea of founding an organisation myself to help others who would come after me.
Patrick Bosango
I’ve been involved in voluntary and community work for about seven years. I started in London, working with refugees and asylum seekers because at that time I was an asylum seeker myself so I knew about the struggle to access certain services. It’s like a passion for me to help other people in this situation. In 2008 I moved to Birmingham and met Justin and I was very interested in the idea of working with him.
Clare Payne
I’m a grants officer with the Barrow Cadbury Trust. The funding programme under which the Discovery of the Talents is supported is our migration programme – the Trust has a focus on creating a more even debate around migration, detoxifying the debate and making sure that particularly vulnerable groups of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are given the support they need. We try to support groups at a range of levels – very much at the grassroots, with groups providing frontline services to the most vulnerable people, and also working with organisations that are campaigning around policy areas and trying to link the grassroots concerns with policymakers and parliamentarians.
We received a very ambitious grant application from the Discovery of the Talents several years ago. They were a new group, unincorporated, and they hadn’t had much income before and they were asking for quite a large grant from us to set up a community centre working with asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants from all backgrounds across Birmingham and though I could see that there was something very interesting about the application and the organisation, it didn’t seem to the Trust that this was something we could support at that level. But we have a policy of going to meet people if we think there is something worth investigating in the proposal – particularly when English is not an applicant’s first language, trying to absorb everything from a written proposal is not ideal.
So I went to Birmingham, met with one of the volunteers on the project and had quite an honest discussion about the fact that we felt there were some rsiks to giving the amount of money they were asking for given their experience. So, for example, rather than buying a centre we suggested it might be better to start by renting. And Discovery of the Talents, while retaining their ambition, were happy to take our advice and start with something smaller.
Another thing we discussed was that in their proposal they had said that they would work with asylum seekers and refugees from all backgrounds. We asked them who they saw on a daily basis and it turned out it was mainly French-speaking asylum seekers and refugees, so we suggested that this was the best group to focus on rather than stretching themselves too far.
David Hirst
I’m the Organisational Development Officer for the Basis Project in the West Midlands.
Justin Bankwa
David Hirst from the Basis Project is one of the most important people for the development of this organisation. I’ve known David four years now and he has helped us a lot to be where we are now.
David Hirst
I supported the group to get the premises here and I spent quite a lot of time with the grants officer [Clare Payne] at the Barrow Cadbury Trust who did a brilliant job in supporting the group.
Clare Payne
When I presented the revised proposal to trustees it was emphasised that this was a risky group to support given that they were quite new and inexperienced but keen to take advice, and the trustees felt that 12-month pilot funding would be the best way to start. I made it clear to the trustees that I would have a lot of contact with the Discovery of the Talents – we operate a system called funder-plus, offering extra support to groups that need it. With Discovery of Talents it was clear that there might be ways I could help them – linking them with training, talking to them about policies and fundraising strategies etc.
So, over that 12-month period I stayed in close contact and was satisfied that they were making good progress and learning. Something that was very useful for me was that I had met David Hirst from the Basis Project before the proposal came through. So one of the first things I did was to call him up and ask them about them. He was very honest and said that he thought they were a great group, and we shared concerns about some of the areas in which they were weaker. Over the 12-month period of the pilot, David and I were in touch at least once a month to talk about the group. And when we came to the second grant, where we were giving them money for office space, David did a huge amount to help with things like challenging very high rents. Being based in London, it was hugely reassuring for me to know that David was there and able to give me honest feedback.
David Hirst
I really admire the Barrow Cadbury Trust for what they are doing – and at a little bit of a risk, with an unincorporated association. And they actually helped the development process of the group and we worked together. They’re now phoning me up to ask about other groups in the region, too – so it’s a really good relationship.
Justin Bankwa
You can see some of our certificates – training and insurance. And this is our allotment project – it’s now on hold but we have been working with people sent by the Job Centre and with a lot of different organisations.
Patrick Bosango
The most important thing is just being able to give that help and support to people from a refugee background. That’s very exciting. And we are really progressing. At the start we had only 3 people on the management committee, but that went up to six, and now we are a registered company.
Justin Bankwa
We have had funding from Barrow Cadbury and all of the services are free of charge. But we need more resources. The work we are doing is about heart – we come from a refugee background and understand that background and we try to help as much as we can.
