Can You Hear Me Now?

For more than three years, Manchester Central Foodbank and Get It Done have worked alongside people using front line support to share voices, experiences, and testimonies, to create artworks and photo diaries, and community mapping projects.

For more than three years, Manchester Central Foodbank and Get It Done have worked alongside people using front line support in the city to share voices, experiences, and testimonies, to create artworks and photo diaries, and community mapping projects.

Since January 2020, Manchester Central Foodbank and Get It Done have worked together on a large-scale creative campaign called Can You Hear Me Now? focused on giving access to creative expressions related to experiences of poverty.

In the first phase of the project, we had two main outputs. When access to mental wellbeing and entertainment resources was limited during the pandemic for many, we created activity packs designed encourage creativity and reflection. These activity packs promoted reflection on topics like personal identity, community and politics all in a creative and friendly way. Surpassing our initial target of 400 activity packs, we distributed over 1150 activity packs to people experiencing poverty in the Central and North Manchester regions, thanks to extended funding from Manchester Council.

In addition to our creative packs, we sat down with people using foodbanks to discuss their experiences, working towards creating a world without foodbanks. These transcribed interviews and written testimonials were assembled into an archive, spanning content including interviews, photos, collaborative art pieces and reflections.

The library of stories is here to view, and an opportunity to browse stories of individual experiences of stereotypes, navigating the system and the stigma surrounding foodbanks, pictures of ‘A Day in the Life’ and art related to expressions of poverty created through activity packs and online workshops. We aim to challenge and dispel the myths and misinformation surrounding rising levels of poverty, sharing people's experience of receiving of food support. Often media narratives emphasise an idea that people using foodbanks or receiving benefits are somehow undeserving or to blame for their situation. The testimonies show how easy it is for circumstances to change outside of your control and the impact of false and upsetting stereotypes.