Skill-Sharing Workshops

Poverty and social exclusion are, by their very definition, isolating. Bringing people together to share their hopes, concerns and experiences is one way to attempt to counter this loneliness and separation.

This ‘peer support’, which has the goal of building families’ confidence and helping them reach their full potential, is what ATD Fourth World aims to foster through our weekly skill-sharing workshops where new skills can be learned, shared and taken back into the wider community.

Activities have varied widely, ranging from expressive art workshops, cooking and fundraising to event planning, building maintenance and celebrating festivals. In the words of one young participant, “I feel useful when I can help out with painting and decorating; I learned I could do many different things that I had never done before.”  

A Peer Mentoring programme to support the development of people’s roles within both ATD Fourth World and their own communities provides a forum for people to put into their own words the responsibilities they have towards friends and family and the contributions they make in their neighbourhoods. One outcome has been the creation of a photo exhibition, entitled The Roles We Play: Recognising the Contribution of People in Poverty, in conjunction with London-based artist Eva Sajovic to counteract some of the negative stereotypes currently portrayed of people in poverty.