REPORT for BARING FOUNDATION August, 2009
Bridge + Tunnel Voices Registered Charity Number 1111487 Registered Company Number 05264804
INTRODUCTION / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This has been an important year of growth for Bridge + Tunnel Voices as it grows in strength, gains new partners and supporters, and attempts major scale work for the first time. This year has been a consolidation of work in the last 5-7 years into the deliver of our main project, Ali in Wonderland, and also an investment in our future. The year began with the successful exhibition at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead in April 2008 and by end of May 2009 saw the organisation commencing production on a major feature film project about teen refugees, Ali in Wonderland. For the first time, the organisation also had core funding from the Baring Foundation and was able to realise some of its major long-term ambitions because of the stability this afforded. Having the luxury of a stable existence for 3 years meant that plans could be made to both achieve growth and also to self-determining our future course. To this end, B+TV embraced a period of reflection and developed in the first instance a new artistic policy for the next 3 years. This is attached at the end of this report. Though this will be a continually evolving document, I was able as the Creative Director to stand back from the daily business of running an organisation and keeping it afloat to be able to vision something exciting for the future. Interestingly, the plan is not to go ‘larger’ per say but to recalibrate the aims and methods we use to deliver our services and objectives. The emphasis is on remaining agile and inventive. We want to continue to inspire innovation and continue producing work which is cutting edge and more difficult for larger organisations to achieve. To this goal, a recent project we have been contemplating is about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered asylum seekers. This was following a Research and Consultancy Unit at Refugee Support published a report: Over Not Out: The housing and homelessness issues specific to LGBT Asylum Seekers. This is an example of the responsive challenging work we aim to undertake. This year has also been focused on not only developing a major project but also laying the foundations for an evolving organisation. We have had a large turn over of staff during this year for a variety of reasons (including one dismissal) and despite the difficult financial climate we have managed to make prudent choices to ensure the organisation remains healthy in light of tough market conditions. Our next years focus will be to develop a stable core staff (we currently have a Project Manager role vacant) and this will be important to enable us to deliver our services. We continue to develop partnerships, working closely with the North of England Refugee Service, Tyneside Cinema and Newcastle University. We have also received funding this year from Film Council UK: First Light and V-Match Volunteer Fund. We are negotiating with Newcastle University a larger collaboration. I’d like to mention the great work achieved on the Wiki: Wonderland and Wiki: Hope projects, our youth refugee projects leading up to the making of the feature. These seed projects were both dynamic and innovative and saw a lot of enthusiasm and dedication. The quality of the work was outstanding. All these works are evident on our website: www.ali-in-wonderland.com. The last few months of the summer of 2009 was the delivery of a very large, intensive and complex project which tested our abilities as an organisation and as individuals to its limit. We are proudly endorsed by Sir Ben Kingsley in our goal and have been lucky to achieve much of what we have set out to do. The filming and the participation of young people in the delivery of this project has been a colossal challenge that tested us. However, the benefits and the outcomes have been stunning, surprising, and worth all the efforts. Without doubt this was ambitious and the road to get there has not ended yet as over the next 6 months we deliver the project and start new phases on the project (distribution into schools, etc). We approach our 5th year as a registered charity with enthusiasm and look forward to expanding our role, increasing our effectiveness in bringing change and awareness to diversity issues and those particularly in relation to new migrant communities.
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IMAGES OF OUR WORK THIS YEAR
Last of the Dictionary Men travels to Yemen (in photo: British Ambassador to Yemen & Yemeni Cultural Minister and Minister for Immigrants)
Last of the Dictionary Men in Gateshead and San’aa
King of South Shields in Hong Kong Screening, Wiki group celebrate end of project
I-Kooch in Schools workshops, Screening/Launch Wiki: Wonderland at the Sagegateshead
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This page: Chistian Coulson (from Harry Potter film) filming Ali in Wonderland, On the set in a carwash, Filming immigration arrival, i-Kooch in Schools workshops, Wiki: Hope workshops, Wiki participant makes a fil
This page: Wiki:Hope Screening/Launch, Ali in Wonderland set, Whirling Dervish, Presentations for Wiki participants, Filming at Funfair, Nichole, one of the stars of AIW from the travellers community, Wiki Hope audience.
DETAILS ABOUT US The members of the board of trustees of the charity during the year ended 31 March 2008 were: Elaine Drainville (Joint chair) Katherine Henderson (Joint chair) Claire Malcolm Hengameh Ashraf Emami Martene Lant All the directors of the company are also trustees of the charity, and their responsibilities include all the responsibilities of directors under the Companies Acts and of trustees under the Charities Act. The directors are members of the company At the Annual General Meeting ** retire, but are eligible for reappointment. Elaine Drainville (Joint chair) Katherine Henderson (Joint chair) Claire Malcolm Hengameh Ashraf Emami Martene Lant Creative Director - Tina Gharavi REGIONAL PARTNERS & SUPPORTS Newcastle University, New Writing North, Arts Council England, North East, Community Foundation, Heritage Lottery Fund, Local Network Fund, Newcastle City Council, Newcastle City Library, Northern Film & Media, the Trent House, William Leech Charity, Tyneside Cinema, North of England Refugee Service, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, South Tyneside Council, South Tyneside Libraries, Your Homes Newcastle, Awards for All, Sir James Knott Foundation, Creative Partnerships, ISIS Arts, Sage Gateshead, Mongrel UK, Culture Lab, Community collaborations: The Customs House, Equal Arts, Al-Azhar Mosque, Kooch participants.
 
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Objectives and activities of the charity
A summary of the objects of the charity as set out in its governing document The charity’s aims including the changes or differences it seeks to make through its activities The trustees present their annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2008. Bridge & Tunnel Voices is an innovative media charity based in the North East of England. Registered as a charity in 2005, we produce a range of socially engaged and issue-based projects in collaboration with culturally diverse communities. We are committed to representing unheard stories and work extensively with individuals and groups from refugee, asylum seeker and migrant backgrounds. Advocacy, education and nurturing creativity is at the heart of our work. The full name of the charity was changed to Bridge& Tunnel Voices from Nomad Cultural Forum on 4 April 2008. The board of trustees are satisfied with the performance of the charity during the year and the position at 31 March 2008 and consider that the charity is in a strong position to continue its activities during the coming year, and that the charity’s assets are adequate to fulfill its obligations.
An explanation of the charity’s strategies for achieving its stated objectives To further its objects in 2007-2008 the charity aimed to:
• • • • • • • •
Continue to secure core funding to develop new projects focusing on inclusion, migration, citizenship and diversity related issues; Deliver a second phase for i-Kooch interactive website project in local secondary schools; Develop and deliver Wiki: Wonderland project, an interactive website project with young refugees and asylum seekers in the North-East (funded by MediaBox); Fundraise for Phase 2 of the project successfully from the Heritage Lottery Fund and First Light; Continue to develop further phases of the Wiki (formerly i-Kooch) project, for Phase 3 Informatics at Newcastle University, embracing new technologies and software; Launch and exhibit the first phase of Last of the Dictionary Men: Stories from the South Shields Yemeni Sailors, a major new oral history project; Develop a project on Islamophobia (an educational DVD) with Show Racism the Red Card; Start preparing a five-year business plan for Bridge & Tunnel Voices.
Through our projects, which encompass film, theatre, storytelling, web-design and the creation of digital narratives, we allow participants to develop their skills as they create their work. This helps with the building of bridges between their geographical displacement and an outside world that marginalizes the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers.
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Details of significant activities (including its main programmes, projects, or services provided) that contribute to the achievement of the stated objectives The charity’s grant making policies The contribution of volunteers i-Kooch in Schools: Training and Education Programme with Refugees working with young people in schools. The creation of the i-Kooch website has produced a distinctive and relevant picture of cultural diversity of the North East to young audiences regionally, nationally and internationally. It has created a model of employability and training for refugees and offered a means for us to pilot our training and education project in schools across Northumberland and the North East.
This is not applicable to activities of the charity as no grants are made by it. The charity does not employ volunteers.
Last of the Dictionary Men: Stories from the South Shields Yemeni Sailors Exhibition & Touring Programme. The recording of Stories from the South Shields Yemeni Sailors has documented and preserved the oral history of this marginalized group. The launch and success of the exhibition, Last of the Dictionary Men, which opened in April at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art has significantly raised the profile of this group and offered a positive migration story to the UK. This has had wide international, national, and regional coverage. Wiki: Wonderland: An interactive web narrative project working with young refugees who develop stories based on their real life experience. The Wiki Project worked with young people on a creative learning project that uses their real-life experiences to teach them new skills in IT and media production. They worked around themes of citizenship, involvement and cultural cohesion as inspiration for their creative work, while tackling issues of racism and Islamophobia. This creative learning project taught the participants new skills in media production through a structured mentoring programme which also increased their confidence, helped them to take a more active part in society and break down barriers between themselves and their communities – barriers of age, ethnicity, education and confidence. It has reflected their real-life experiences in fictional form, and will be a visible process giving the participants the tools to experiment with narrative and empowering them to inspire change while inventing fresh cinematic and multimedia models.
The King of South Shields: Interfaith dialogue project The film The King of South Shields , recording the visit of Mohammad Ali to the town has been used by interfaith groups to assist with the building of understanding between diverse religious groups. We have now been able to launch the DVD of the project. This launched in April at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art This film is currently on festival tour and an in-depth education programme roll out is currently being designed for it.
Show Racism the Red Card Events We have delivered awareness work at some of Show Racism the Red Card Events. We have also worked very hard in the past year with this organisation for the development of a joint project on Islamophobia (an educational DVD).
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Achievements and performance of the charity Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year The key drivers in relation to the charity’s objectives relate to resources. The charity is continuing to develop relationships with local and regional partners to enable the development of projects to address issues faced by cultural minorities, asylum seekers, refugees and migrants. Though only in its third year of operation, the charity has been able to achieve some significant accomplishments. Most significant was the launch of the exhibition of the major and multi-faceted oral history project,
Last of the Dictionary Men: Stories from the South Shields Yemeni Sailors. Working closely with the first generation Yemeni community, Bridge & Tunnel Voices collected oral history recordings, archive and documented the portraits of the men. These community’s portraits were celebrated with astonishingly well-attended exhibition at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in April 2008. Over 18,000 people attended the exhibition, a significant number for a local exhibition, a wide press attention was gathered for the work that we have done. The exhibition is now being developed into a touring exhibition. A significant evaluation of the project has now been completed. The i-Kooch interactive website project entered into its next phase. Through a partnership with ISIS Arts and Creative Partnerships, the project has toured schools in Northumberland. This project involved adapting the website which was completed in the last year and developing an education and training programme around this. It aims to explore unique stories of Diaspora, migration, physical and cultural displacement, by empowering Kooch members to freely express their narratives in a society where they are often not heard. This project will be the first employability model for Kooch members and will engage three secondary schools in Northumberland by providing an important platform for this exchange and diversity awareness through workshops. In this phase, Kooch members were trained as trainers, they worked with experienced workshop leaders to develop a programme for schools. The final phase of the project saw the development of a workshop programme for delivery in schools. This material resulted in an education learning resource which is available for schools and on our website. Wiki: Wonderland - An online interactive narrative: A new project by Voices that seeks to engage young people in the development of an online interactive film script, building upon the innovative technology, media and processes developed in the production of i-Kooch.
Wiki: Wonderland: Phase Three This is a significant piece of work looking at the distribution of an on-line narrative via the internet. We are hoping to collaborate with the Arts Humanity Research Council via a research collaboration with Newcastle University. This project is partnered with good local and national organisations: the North of England Refugee Service and the BBC. It will examine how we can integrate our project (from Phase 1 and 2) into the citizenship curriculum of schools. This will very much be building on the experiences we have gained from i-Kooch in Schools project.
The King of South Shields 5 Cities Tour: Voices is currently developing a national rollout project based upon the pilot work conducted for The King of South Shields Interfaith project. The King of South Shields 5 Cities Tour will be a programme of national workshops that aim to challenge racist and extremist attitudes in today’s multi-cultural society. The documentary film will be used as a tool to encourage dialogue with groups across the country that face discrimination and intolerance on a daily basis, as well as those who have embraced attitudes which lean towards racial hatred and ignorance.
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Plans for future periods
Major community film project We are developing a large-scale community online film project and this will take up the majority of our project time next year.
Wiki Wonderland : Developing phase 3 of the project We will be developing a major third phase of the Wiki Wonderland project in collaboration with Newcastle University and other partners.
Educational project roll‐out We have a series of in-schools projects that we have been developing and this seems to be a major activity into which our organisation is developing.
National Interfaith tour Last year we undertook a community inter-faith project for a film about Muslim British identity. We hope to expand this into a national touring programme.
Core funding strategy Though some core funding has been achieved, we are currently appointing an external fundraising expert to work with the organisation to raise core funding.
Development of business plan Another piece of work that has been undertaken has been the development of a business plan. This will be further developed with the help of an external consultant who is working with us on the development of our core funding strategy.
Wiki (previously i‐Kooch) Funded by MediaBox, the Wiki project for young persons is a creative learning project teaching new skills in IT and media production based on their real life experiences. i-Kooch in schools This followed on from last year’s creation of the i-Kooch website and has been used as a pilot for training and education in schools and as a model for employability and training for refugees.
Last of the Dictionary Men The work in previous years to record the oral history of Yemeni sailors in South Shields was used as the basis of an exhibition held at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art. It is planned to create a touring exhibition based on this work to show a positive migration story into the UK.
Interfaith The film The King of South Shields, recording the visit of Mohammad Ali to the town has been used by Interfaith groups to assist with the building of understanding between diverse religious groups. We have now been able to launch the DVD of the project.
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Bridge + Tunnel Productions / Bridge + Tunnel Voices Artistic Policy 2009/11 B+T in Context: A short history ‘Unheard Voices, Untold Stories’. B+T was established in 1998 as a regional arts organisation focused on new talent, artistic experimentation and challenging the poverty of representation for diverse communities. In 2005, Bridge + Tunnel was established as a charity to undertake the education and charitable work under a new banner (Bridge + Tunnel Voices) and relevant structure. B+T, 10 years later, continues to challenge exclusion and promote diversity using innovative arts forms while bringing minority and niche stories to a mainstream audience. B+T has worked over a period of time in the Region with BME communities, specifically focused on refugees and asylum seekers who were (and sadly continue to be) mispresented, under-represented and lack access. However, recently other arts agencies have begun to also address these groups. B+T’s reputation is strong and has many good partnerships with other statutory and public service bodies in the Region. The partnership with Newcastle University grows in strength as the University embraces the outreach agenda. At the heart of our work is a passion for empowering groups and individuals to help themselves and build their abilities, programmes and initiatives. B+T doesn’t seek to replicate the work other ‘larger’ arts organisations deliver. In fact, we pride ourselves at remaining agile, inventive, and able to take risks. We are very pleased that in 2008, this work has received core-funding support from the Baring Foundation. In the recent past B+T have taken exhibitions and community stories to a wide audience (Last of the Dictionary Men, Asylum Carwash, Bread, Kite), trained refugees work skills (IKooch in School, where refugees gave drama workshops in schools), tackled Islamophobia (King of South Shields) and most recently, undertaken a major initiative to tackle racism, zenophobia, and looked to bring a social issue to a mainstream audience- a long narrative project with an interactive web education distribution element (Ali in Wonderland and Wiki: Wonderland). We remain devoted to education and training as a means for delivering change (Wiki: Wonderland). The work of B+T in the mainstream media aspect continues to go from strength to strength: a grand prize at the TCM Awards at the London Film Festival (Perfect to Begin), documentaries broadcast internationally (Mother/Country) and screened at festivals such as the coveted Sundance Film Festival (Closer) as well as other all over the world. More impressively, the have been able to generated income and audience figures working both with mainstream media and with new technology (I-Kooch, Wiki: Wonderland, and The King of South Shields). The Next 3 Years: How we will move ahead The artistic domains we aim to explore in the next three years will continue to be internet and technology based platforms while also seeking to engage with museums, galleries, and other public institutions where appropriate. Our confidence has grown in working with the newest of technologies and within an area that few experts exist. B+T will remain poly-form and use where appropriate art, photography, creative writing, cinema, performance, theatre, and Page 11 of 18
community education. We will continue to allow the message (and their authors) to dictate the form, much to the annoyance of our funders! With recent world events, the current economic climate, and the maturation of our organisation, however, we are adjusting our priorities and our ways of working. For our next phase, we are looking to increase the impact of the work we under take; yet we are seeking to reduce the number of projects we run in a year. We are prioritising developing strategies for wider distribution and increased public awareness for the change we can foster. Our other objective is to work to connect the Region with international communities. We believe that by fostering collaborations, exchanges and working on Global Issues related to race, Diaspora and representation, we will be able to achieve greater change while also increasing aspiration and striving for excellence. Without doubt, innovation remains also at the heart of our agenda. We are seeking new ways of breaking boundaries and experimenting constantly with new ideas, new technologies, and more effective ways of engendering social change. We have identified 3 main priorities: Internationalisation (the world is your community), Innovative Technology (using new emerging technologies for impact and change), & Empowerment for Change (letting people speak for themselves, fighting the colonialisation of people’s histories and stories, supporting people to be agents for change). We will do this in addition to Organisational Development as we traverse a new phase for the organisation. We are no longer an emerging organisation, the next period of time will be spent in the maturation, stability and legacy of B+T.
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Artistic Programme 2009/11 Internationalisation 1. YEAR ONE: Target Tehran (Installation) 2. YEAR TWO: Syrian Lingerie (Documentary & Community Project) 3. YEAR THREE: Japan Project (sound/Image installation) Innovative Technology 4. YEAR ONE/TWO/THREE: Ali in Wonderland: Feature Film Interactive Narrative Education Distribution Platform Empowerment for Change 5. YEAR ONE: Last of the Dictionary Men Tour & Book 6. YEAR TWO: Anti-Radicalisation Project (Community Education Project) 7. YEAR ONE/TWO: The Importance of Being Muhammad Ali with Lenny Henry (TV Documentary) 8. YEAR THREE: The Outsider Documentary (Cinema Documentary) Organisational Development 1. YEAR ONE: Appoint business development manager 2. YEAR TWO: Grow staff structure and expanse of projects 3. YEAR THREE: Stabilise and mature organisation, grow reputation, and increase impact
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WHAT OUR PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT US Our Partners: Martyn Hudson, North of England Refugee Service: Young people from the North of England Refugee Service Youth Integration Project were hugely rewarded by the kinds of skills, staff input, and creative outcomes of the Bridge and Tunnel Wiki project. Not only did they develop their creative writing, film-making and online production skills they truly benefited and were inspired by the passion of the Bridge and Tunnel team themselves who really developed the project from the beginning with the young people. Particularly important to us were the kinds of approaches used by Bridge and Tunnel; grassroots focused, committed to social justice and propelled by a creative drive and vision second to none in cultural agencies in the North-East. Nowhere else could the young people have found the commitment necessary to produce the kinds of screen projects which make such a difference to young peoples lives.
Quotes from the Wiki Wonderland “Fantastic! Very impressive, I’m looking forward to seeing the feature length film!” “Just keep it going guys… you’re the voice of tomorrow!” “Good stuff. Keep going, you’re doing good.” Seca x “Thank you, so nice.” “That was very good, interesting and powerful!!!” “I think that I like real life films on modern day issues. It was good how we see a change in the girl and boy. We also see the good times, the bad times and how close they all are when they dance together. We also see different views of different people and how they act. This is what makes it BRILLIANT!!” “I found that it was interesting. What I mainly liked was the story and I want to see all of it. I like the way the cameras were used and some of the shots were brilliant. 5 stars ***** Ruby- Mongrel UK “It was great and I’m so happy to see the film you did.” “Thank you, that was so nice and beautiful.” “Good work.” “You were brilliant and wish you all the best…” “I think you were very good. All the best. xx”
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“It was a good film, I liked it a lot. It was fantastic!” “I think it was great how the story was produced and based on people’s thoughts. I was also amazed at how quick such a long piece of film was produced. I think if the Wiki project continues at this rate it will go far.” “I liked the film that was shown because lots of people have been trough stuff like that but they are ashamed to show it.” “Very impressive movie. I wish you all the best and continue to develop new talents. The movie itself was low budget but with a high standard of quality. The visual and audio was perfect. You will need financial encouragement in the future and I will be there to see you at the box office one day.” “I will be happy to help.” Tel: 07961084064 “Hi, I would like to say I liked everything, the music and watching the film. It was amazing!”
Feedback on Last of the Dictionary Men Fantastic. It has been an unexpected pleasure on our journey along Hadrian's Wall. I particularly liked the Dictionary Men. -Heather Hockley, Bedford, May 2008 Wonderful! Almost didn’t come in - so glad we did - The Dictionary Men - the faces will stay with me as I walk Hadrian's Wall all week. Thank you so much -Rita Hillaud, Wales, May 2008 Yemeni exhibition is fantastic. -Ayeshea Gallagher, South Shields, April 2008 Fantastic. The exhibitions - The Dictionary Men - wonderful and King of South Shields film is just wonderful, thank you! -Anonymous Displays and interviews in 'Dictionary Men' excellent, really interesting- E Kulluk, South Shields, April o8 Came to see 'Dictionary Men' very interesting - Joan Calton, South Shields, April 08 Coming from South Shields I was fascinated by the story of the Yemeni. - Anonymous Fine. Loved the Last of the Dictionary Men. Lived in Damascus so enjoyed brushing up my Arabic too. -Anonymous Yemeni exhibit fun! -Anonymous. Excellent exhibition Last of the Dictionary Men + film. Well worth several visits.- B O’Connor May 2008
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Visitor wanted to note her enjoyment of LOTDM, very good - (via crew member).
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BUDGET REPORT & FORWARD PLAN
2008/2009
COST
BUDGET
ACTUAL
Development £15,000 Worker
£0
Media Project Manager & Producer
£15,000
£0
Reason for changes: Because we received funding from another organisation to cover the Development Worker (Northern Film & Media), we decided to use the Baring Foundation costs for other 2 key members of staff: Media Project Manager & Producer
2009/2010
COST
ESTIMATED
Running costs (rent & on-costs)
£4,500
Project Manager
£11,500
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