A couple of weeks ago Save Birmingham had the pleasure of taking part in the Conversations of Change workshop and film screening, put on by the Equality Trust.
We had the opportunity to view the excellent film made by local community reporters, focussing on an issue very close to our hearts here at Save Birmingham.
You can watch the film yourself here and hear more about the process behind it below:
We’ve been working with Community Reporters in Birmingham to explore peoples’ experiences of our society and the way our broken system manifests in local communities and lives. Our reporters, Alev, Arash and Jennifer, decided to explore Brummies experiences of access to arts, culture, entertainment and recreation and how experiences of socio-economic inequality affects this, and its knock on impact on feelings of community cohesion. The interviews they carried out brought back some some amazing stories that have helped us learn more about life in the city right now at such an ever increasingly challenging time.
We also had the chance to run a workshop with those in the room, looking at what makes a 'perfect community asset' via the mediums of coloured pens, post-its and plasticine!
Conversations ranged from physical infrastructure - single storey buildings with accessible access, good outside lighting, rooftop gardens and surrounding green spaces, community murals, good public transport links and decorated with uplifting bright colours.
We also explored what should happen in these places - ideas included shared meals, art activities, skills sharing. They should be joyful, cosy and safe spaces that are welcoming and affordable to all.
The take-away from the day was the reinforcement of how important these spaces can be! And this is why SB continues to advocate for the preservation of these assets across the beautiful city of Birmingham.
