This month UCF director and fundraiser Mike Daligan shares his thoughts on the foundation.
I have spent more
years that I can remember knowing that I had more about me than I thought I
had. This coupled with a defensive arrogance that I used as a shield. It wasn’t
a good way to achieve anything and, even when I did, it was as if it was
someone else who actually did it. Yet, inside, I wasn’t unaware of the reality.
Unfortunately, the result was that it has taken me until much later in life to
do many of the things that I could, and should, have done much earlier. Along
the way, however, I’ve been involved in a great many interesting projects on
which others have achieved beyond their dreams.
Most notable in
these have been projects where people who were homeless and unemployed built
their own homes as well as a number of city farms and other community
organisations. It was at one of these that I first worked with a couple of
Artists/Blacksmiths and the idea of the Urban Crafts Foundation was first
mooted. That initial meeting was some eight years ago and it led, eventually,
to the setting up of the Foundation. Fast forward another two years and the
Foundation is now established, albeit in metal storage containers, at Lambourne
End Centre for Outdoor Learning near Chigwell in Essex. From this base, it has
now embarked on another long journey at the end of which it plans to have its
own building housing a number of crafts for its users and visitors. The aim is
to set these within a community garden cum horticultural area to complete the project.
So, what has my introductory paragraph got to do with these plans?
We, it’s because
the Foundation is a new Community Interest Company which will work with those
who are unemployed, schools, community groups and others who wouldn’t normally
get this opportunity. The aim is to provide them with a practical, “hands on”
experience as the precursor to building their confidence. Witnessing this at
work, for example, blacksmiths at a school for children with special needs is
to be convinced of the value of this work.
It may be the
simple nature of the process of heating and shaping a piece of metal or the immediacy
with which this can be accomplished. It may also be the fact that a simple
artefact can be created in a very short space of time. Whatever it is, it
generates an interest and a sense of achievement that can be built upon.
So, if you’re a
teacher who wants to see how the forge can help your children or a company
wanting your staff to experience something different, why not give us a call?
We think that you’ll be please with the result.