Director’s Blog – Lisa Charlotte Davis
Firestorm had premiered at Hartlepool Town Hall Theatre before Christmas. Transformers Hartlepool brought together a group of organisations supporting racially minoritised communities in Hartlepool, Stockton and Middlesbrough (Link Project CIC, Purple Rose and Connect 360) and we worked together to identify objectives for the workshops and develop activities, based around clips of the play.
We agreed to highlight:
✒️ that forced marriage is not promoted by religion but is a cultural practice
✒️ the similarities in terms of the law and behaviours associated with forced marriage and domestic abuse
✒️ the laws and punishments associated with both
✒️ the support available nationally and across Teesside
✒️ the barriers that might get in the way of people from different cultures accessing support if they are experiencing this
We went on to deliver the workshops we had co-designed to the 3 community groups, ending with a final session sharing what we had done with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland who had funded the work.
Here are some of the lovely comments from across the sessions we delivered –
💖 “Proud this work exists and at the multi cultural approach.”
💖 “I am sat in a room filled with love and acceptance and that feeling needs to be taken further into the world.”
💖 “It’s a wonderful initiative. Hope to have more of this.”
💖 “I want to come again and learn more.”
💖 “I am happy to learn new information. I want to stand up for my right. I want to speak out when I am not happy.”
💖 “I am very happy seeing different communities coming together and talking to each other.”
💖 “Feeling happy because I am exposed to some laws I know nothing about before now. I am a woman whose voice must be heard. I can not be silenced and ignored.”
It was an intense and powerful week. Alongside the lovely comments and the sense that we had empowered community members with important information, there were also distressing stories of the degree of racism some of our participants experience on a daily basis, often in front of their children, leaving them frightened and anxious.
In light of this, it was brilliant to see the will of the police and community organisations operating in Hartlepool to come together and work to create a more inclusive town.
