Afghan families thrive in community project

A North Devon initiative, led by arts charity Honeyscribe in partnership with Libraries Unlimited, is helping resettled Afghan families integrate into the Braunton community.

The Gatherers project, which has been running throughout 2024 at Braunton Library and Braunton Countryside Centre, encourages locals to collect flowers from gardens and hedgerows.

Eighteen Afghan families, who were relocated to Braunton under the Afghan Resettlement Assistance Policy (ARAP) after working with British Forces, have been a key focus of the project.

The families have joined wellbeing walks organised by Live Well Braunton, exploring the local countryside and collecting flowers. 

These are then pressed in old library books, with Afghan women crafting them into bookmarks, which are distributed to library users.

The project was recognised by the European Cultural Foundation as one of 50 initiatives across 24 countries for The Europe Challenge 2024, addressing social isolation and other challenges.

It’s funded by the European Cultural Foundation and Arts Council England.

Artist and founder of Honeyscribe, Amy Shelton designed and led ‘The Gatherers’ project.

Honeyscribe is a Devon based arts charity which delivers bespoke art projects focusing on the natural world, human health and environmental wellbeing. 

Working with the Pickwell Foundation, she visited the Afghan families in their homes and showed them how to press the flowers and introduced the project.

Volunteers and staff from the Pickwell Foundation supported the women to attend the sessions with transport and interpreters.  

Amy said: “The Gatherers celebrates the importance of the natural world to support mental health and wellbeing by connecting people with the place they live. Braunton is a part of the North Devon UNESCO Biosphere and hosts one of the most celebrated biodiverse botanical habitats. We wanted to enable the Afghan families to deeply engage with the rich cultural heritage of their new home as well as to introduce the libraries as the welcoming democratic spaces that they are, so we ran the first phase of the art workshops at Braunton Library. It was valuable time for them to spend together with each other and feel part of a wider community. The bookmarks they produced from the pressed flowers collected across Braunton were absolutely beautiful.” 

In July, the project expanded with a week-long creative summer holiday at Braunton Countryside Centre, supported by Arts Council England.

‘The Gatherers’ is part of a series of events being rolled out by Libraries Unlimited with the help of money from Arts Council England (ACE). North Devon was identified as one of ACE’s Priority Places to bring more cultural activity and engagement to the area. 

Braunton Library supervisor Sarah Bushell said: “‘The Gatherers’ has amplified the role of libraries as crucial public spaces for democratic participation and social and environmental wellbeing. It’s also enabled us to become part of a unique network of European libraries working together to promote the wellbeing of our communities. Our staff meet many customers every day who feel isolated and lonely, and projects like these can really have an impact. Libraries bring people and connect communities as places of advice, signposting, and companionship. We’re so pleased all this has been recognised by the European Cultural Foundation, and grateful to the Pickwell Foundation and Braunton Countryside Centre for all their support.”