By Rachel Charman
A special photograph exhibition developed by South Essex Homes and Southend Borough Council will be launched today.
The exhibition presents portraits of 20 Southend residents, including some from various countries of origin such as Albania and Sri Lanka.
Executive Councillor for Adult Social Care, Health and Housing, Councillor Mark Flewitt said:
“We hope as many people as possible will visit this exceptionally innovative exhibition.
“It really is heartwarming to see how people who may have previously lived elsewhere, are now delighted to embrace Southend as their home.
“We hope they have found a warm welcome in our borough.”
Stuart Long, Project Manager for South Essex Homes said:
“This project has developed a real sense of community cohesion among residents, Board Members and staff.
“The aim of the project was to initially encourage resident involvement across all local communities, but as it developed, it was clear; with so many stories to tell there had to be the opportunity to showcase the different peoples stories, and Southenders was born.
“By using art as a medium, the message of community cohesion could be clearly communicated, with the portrait photos alone telling a story and being a representation of the person’s soul and history.”
Chair of South Essex Homes Phil Lyons said: “Southenders is a fresh and unique way to bring communities together and challenge stereotypes about the people who live in social housing.
“We also wanted to send the message that you can be proud to live in an area, even if you weren’t born there.
“We want people from every background to come down and look at the artwork and to read the stories.
“Hopefully, like me they will find them both captivating and inspiring. This is an excellent project we are proud to unveil.”
The exhibition will be open to the public from Tuesday 16th until Friday 19th February at South East Essex College, Luker Road, Southend, from 10am to 4pm daily.
The entire project has been self sufficient, with South Essex Homes officers using their creative writing and photographic skills to produce the photographs and autobiographical stories themselves.
The exhibition was Funded as part of a successful bid from the BAME focus group to South Essex Homes’ resident led project board.
