The Welcome Project: Who We’ve Been Working With

We knew that we wanted to explore how dance could have a positive impact on people’s lives and help to support the work already happening.

We began by talking to organisations already working in Tarner to find out about the brilliant work they do, the people they work with and to get a better idea of some of the challenges they can face. We knew that we wanted to explore how dance could have a positive impact on people’s lives and help to support the work already happening there, and so we decided to focus on four main groups:

• Children under five 
• Young people under 25
• People who have been unemployed long-term and their families
• Older adults

We developed partnerships with four key organisations who were already working with people in the area. They helped us develop a programme of activity, invited people to take part, and hosted our classes, workshops and events in their buildings: 

• Puffin Community Nursery: a nursery based in Tarner run by parents living in the area
• Brighton Youth Centre (BYC): The largest youth centre in Brighton & Hove, open to all young people with a focus on the 13-19 age group.
• Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project (BUCFP): provides practical support, education and advice to people living on low incomes
• Brooke Mead Extra Care Facility: (Senior Housing Department, Brighton & Hove City Council): a council-run extra care housing complex with 45 flats in Brighton & Hove. The residents are people with mild to moderate dementia

Other partner organisations included the Early Childhood Project (ECPUK), Carlton Hill Primary School, mASCot (a parent-led support network for families who have a child/children with an Autism Spectrum Condition), Tarner Community Project and Leach Court (a council-run retirement housing complex in Brighton).