Member stories: Helen Jones
On a rainy day in May, I met with Ben in the Community Wealth Building Hub at SPARK to talk about being disabled, the activism I am involved in, and how they relate to community wealth building.
Before the day, I had chatted with Ben about the best way to adapt the usual interview set up to accommodate my wheelchair. So when the time came, I was reassured that from an access perspective, it would go well.
I was really looking forward to talking about being a queer, disabled person in York, topics that are rarely spoken about. In particular, I was excited to talk about Quiet Pride which offers a more accessible, neurodivergent friendly alternative to mainstream Pride events. In its 5th year, this community focused event has grown and developed in ways I could never have imagined when I first thought about creating the event.
The genesis of Quiet Pride came from frustration at not being able to attend, or be involved with, other Pride events. To see how well received it has been, and the impact it has on others who also felt excluded from LGBTQ+ spaces has been fantastic. To me, this sums up a lot of my activism; something bad happens, and we react. This has been a theme in my life since primary school when I circulated my first petition!
I think that sharing of passion, of projects and of work across the city is one of the incredible things to have come from the series of podcasts.
As a Fieldwork member, it has been an honour to have been on the journey to get us to the stage where we have a podcast! From meeting strangers in tents, to now 3 years later being able to share the voices of brilliant York residents has been special. We went from not knowing our direction of travel, no north star, so to speak, to amplifying voices in the city that we love.
My hope for the future of Fieldwork is that we keep raising people’s voices. There are so many amazing people and projects in York and not nearly enough spaces or places to hear them. I want us to tell the stories that wouldn’t get told otherwise, to hear the voices of our eclectic area. The voices that traditionally, and historically, would have been overlooked.
We have now begun work on our next project, a book about those working to support their local communities in the city, and we are so excited to share it with you when it’s ready.
Do you know someone whose story we should share? Let us know.
