Sutasoma Trust sponsors of the New Art Studio
The New Art Studio is a Sutasoma Trust Project sponsored by the Sutasoma Trust since 2015.
The Art Studio provides a sanctuary and haven for survivors of torture and political violence. In the Studio everyone makes art including the therapists. For this group a sense of democracy is essential, as the clients have already been subjected to an abuse of power in their homeland.
The Art Studio is open all day, which allows a professional and artistic atmosphere to flourish and the quality of the artwork is reflected in this unique union. All experiences are welcomed and contained through the process and power of making art. By creating an informal space for friendship and community, clients begin to trust in their own abilities and in the connections made in a social space.
Isolation is a major issue for asylum seekers. The Art Studio is a refuge where clients can become integrated into society and move away from being only identified as asylum seekers and a therapeutic space where the use of art enables the clients to connect to the unspeakable.
Freedom from Torture: Natural Growth Project
"Nothing seemed to keep the memories away. Everything was darkness. Then I came here and everything seemed familiar. When the soil sleeps, I sleep. There is no evil in the garden."
Suleyman, client of Freedom from Torture’s Natural Growth Project, London
The Natural Growth Project combines horticulture with psychotherapy to help Freedom from Torture clients.
The choice of what to plant and grow is left up to the group, who tend to choose vegetables that remind them of home and which they enjoy eating. Group members were particularly excited about seeing the tomatoes grow.
Group members take all produce home – nothing is wasted.
Most clients are in their thirties, and their countries of origin include: Ivory Coast, Iran, Algeria, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Cameroon and Guinea.
Research Fellowship: Lucy Cavendish College
The support from The Sutasoma Trust has been invaluable in helping our research fellows to carry out their work. For example one fellow did research on dyslexia this year. Her priorities were to consolidate her PhD work into journal publications, plan and pilot new experimental research and to disseminate her work as widely as possible.
In particular, she has been formulating a new theory of 'Acoustic-Emergent Phonology', which explains how infants use oscillatory patterns in the speech acoustic signal to "boot-up" their early language systems, and how this process goes awry in dyslexia.
The Yehudi Menuhin School Bursary Fund: Bursary Support for Young Musicians
The Yehudi Menuhin School is a remarkable place and home to around seventy talented young people.
The main aim of the School is to develop the musical potential of gifted young individuals regardless of their race, creed or financial background.
The School offers its students an academic environment that supports and develops their social, emotional, aesthetic and physical needs.
The Sutasoma Trust helps to support places, which are offered to the most talented and deserving young musicians from around the world.
Home Start: Self Help in the Community Cambridge
The Sutasoma Trust made a one-off donation to the Home Start programme for voluntary support to families in crisis. Prior to The Sutasoma Trust donation, the programme was in danger of losing its funding.
Hundreds of families are helped every year by the programme.
Emslie Horniman Fund: Anthropological Scholarship
The Emslie Horniman Fund was established in 1944 to fund fieldwork undertaken as part of a PhD.
It covers anthropological research in its broadest sense, including ethnography and other branches of social and human science that relate to the natural and physical development of people within society.
Radcliffe Brown: Anthropological Scholarship Fund
The Association of Social Anthropologists (ASA) and the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI) jointly fund the Radcliffe-Brown awards.
Radcliffe Brown was an important British social anthropologist. He developed a theory called functionalism and also did significant research on myth, cosmology and ritual. The Scholarship Fund helps young social anthropology scholars, who are handicapped by lack of funds, complete research they have already embarked on.
Learn more about Radcliffe Brown and the Andaman Islanders, visit W: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Radcliffe-Brown
Room to Heal
Room to Heal is a specialist charity working therapeutically with survivors of torture and other human rights violations. It aims to support survivors on their journey to rebuild meaningful lives in exile.
For people who have lost their home and family and have had their trust destroyed through torture, fostering community and belonging is at the heart of the healing process.
During the week, Room to Heal run men’s and women’s therapeutic support groups, as well as individual therapy, casework, gardening and a range of creative activities.
Guildhall School Trust: Barbican London
The Sutasoma Trust’s annual donation has helped ten talented young musicians realise their aspirations to become professional music therapists.
Amnesty International London
The Sutasoma Trust’s generosity has enabled Amnesty International to continue to defend and support the human rights of people across the world. This has included help with Amnesty’s “Stop Torture Campaign”, which was launched in May 2014.
Bursary for Clients of Freedom from Torture London
The Sutasoma Trust has supported a FFT client to undertake an electricians course and fund a new laptop for his studies. The client is a victim of torture himself.
Learn More Freedom from Torture
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