HELLO!

Here I am, after saying I would never do this again -- running another silly marathon. I am out of practice and a little scared but we're doing it now. I've signed up and why not give back to the charity I run whilst putting my body through this gruelling training, again.

Charity fundraising is harder than ever before - pots of money are getting smaller while the needs of our communities are greater than ever before. I am so desperately passionate about what Unique Community does that I am willing to do a million marathons to keep this work alive.

If you could support us with a donation — however much you can spare — it would mean we are closer to believing we can.

Thank you, love you,

Nataliya x

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ABOUT UNIQUE COMMUNITY

Unique Community was born out of my mum's desire to help people from migrant backgrounds adjust to life in the UK, initially started in 1999. As a child I watched her work in awe. It weathered every storm imaginable thriving right up until I joined in 2018. We took the grit and scrappiness of those 19 years and brought them forward into a new era of ambitious, playful and person-centred arts delivery.

We are now a performing arts space for all, focusing on having the conversations that people are scared to have and overcoming differences by creating and making together in our joyful rooms. We make socially impactful theatre collaboratively with our community, turn the shows into workshops and deliver to 1,000s of school students annually. Allowing the conversations that started in our small theatre rooms to continue for as many years as it is relevant.

CAN YOU IMAGINE? You're a 7 year old child that was attending a drama club. Your voice was heard and weaved into a piece of theatre. A piece of theatre that is then delivered as a workshop to over 3,000 children the following year. Can you imagine how incredible it is for that 7 year olds ideas to be held in such high regard. We can imagine it, because we do it. People are brilliant and we celebrate them all.

Because inclusion means real, tangible inclusion.

It isn't always linear but the payoff is infinitely richer. The more perspectives in the room, the better the theatre we make.

EVERYONE IS WELCOME IN OUR COMMUNITY.

We adapt, we build resources around the needs of the room and we do everything we can to create an environment where people THRIVE. In a world that is filled with so much negativity, here we believe that anything is possible. In our rooms we can change the world.

Below is feedback from a family of a young person who has benefited from our work:

“My son is 9 years old. He has a diagnosis of autism and is currently awaiting an ADHD assessment. He attends a special school and has been attending sessions with Unique Community since February. This is the only mainstream, term time activity he can access that is truly inclusive and open to children of all abilities. I have struggled for years to find a place where he is genuinely welcomed. We tried mainstream drama and art clubs that claimed to be inclusive, but the reality was very different.

He spent a lot of time on the sidelines, unsupported and overlooked. For his safety and wellbeing most of his activities have had to be 1:1. Unique Community has been a GODSEND.

From the moment he joined, he has been included in every sense of the word. The staff genuinely understand neurodiversity, not just in theory, but in the way they speak to him and adapt expectations without ever making him feel different. He has built trusting, positive relationships with the team which is something incredibly rare for him.

He is learning new dance routines and for the first time he confidently practises them at home. That confidence and joy is something I don’t often see after structured activities and it has been wonderful to witness.

Unique Community also works collaboratively with me as a parent. They check in, listen and make adjustments whenever needed.

Thank you for all that you do - you are making a remarkable difference to my son’s life.”