It Started with a Kiss

Over the last three years the Citizens Theatre Learning Department in partnership with Glasgow Social Work Services and Glasgow Life has been working with the residents of Inglefield Women’s Homeless Unit through a series of weekly creative workshops with the aim of providing those who are directly affected by homelessness with a voice. 

 

The workshops - which have involved residents participating in activities including drama, creative writing, film-making, visual art, song-writing and recording – have been a vehicle for the women to express themselves creatively and offer a moment of respite from their everyday lives.

 

Inglefield Hostel, or ‘Ingie Jingie’ as it is called by some of its residents, is located in the south side of Glasgow and has the capacity to house 67 women. The hostel, run by Glasgow City Council Social Work Services, provides shelter and safety for women in crisis as a result of many different circumstances and reasons. Residents participating in the workshops have worked alongside experienced theatre director Elly Goodman from the Citizens and a variety of professional artists.

 

Showcasing in the Upper Foyer of international arts venue Tramway, the It Started with a Kiss Exhibition is the culmination of the creative workshops. The exhibition also looks to the future with the closure of Inglefield Hostel in June 2012 and opening of the Chara Centre, a new purpose-built facility in Possilpark. It is hoped that the work produced as part of the workshops will be featured in the new centre. Due to enormous success of this project there are also plans to continue this meaningful partnership at the Chara Centre if funding is successfully secured.