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1 The practice
2 Hints for an evaluation
2.1 Strenghts
Karen was really happy about the popularity of the project, both in terms of volume and in the geographical area covered. When questioned about the current status she reported (despite no longer being heavily involved, as no longer living in Leicester) “I’ve got a flute in my draw ... and someone has just offered me a piano. I don’t know how many other schemes there are like this, but we’ve had offers from all over the place. Obviously it was just a Leicester scheme to start with but with Sheila working with Long Journey Home she had contacts in Nottingham [another city in the Midlands] and it has just spread from there really.”
The popularity of the project has probably some relation to its individual nature. There are no similar projects in this field. Whilst similar projects exist within the field of music (such as the instrument amnesty for children mentioned by Karen) and using similar models of recycling unwanted items (for example with furniture, see: http://glossopdalefurnitureproject.co.uk) there are no known projects providing instruments to asylum seekers.
It has helped create a network of musicians. Networks that cut across cultural lines help to enhance intercultural understanding. Common bonds between people that transcend ethnically based cultural ties help to foster new levels of cooperation and co-existence. This in turn can lead to asylum seekers and refugee feeling more welcome and accepted as they realise members of the local community are prepared to give up something to help them.
2.2 Critical Points
One concern Karen voiced was that there is sometimes too much to do on a voluntary basis. Though it has been possible to set up the project successfully and keep it running, this has only been possible because of the good will of the arts centre that loaned their basement out to the library. For example, “by giving their time to let us in and out of the building and also to turn people away who’ve come without an appointment, they saved us lots of time which neither of us had.” Ideally Karen, if trying a similar project, would suggest, “to get some kind of funding for an administrator, even it’s an hour or two a month just to keep things ticking over.” The Instrument Library in Leicester however was not planned and was more of an “accidental thing”, so it was not possible in this case.
It could be argued that it is important for all organisations to implement sound structures, even at the beginning. This might allow organisations to more easily grow and also to change hands when the original members no longer have the time or inclination to continue. For instance, Karen has moved away from Leicester and consequently is no longer able to be heavily involved in the project and so it has been left largely in the hands of Sheila. On the other hand, it could be reasoned that the informal nature of project also has had its advantages. As refugees tend to move around a lot more than others, the loaning of instruments needed to be done on a personal basis with prearranged appointments (with either Karen or Sheila). In this way they could keep track of the instruments much better, with very few of the instruments going missing over the four years of the project.
Some members of the public have complained that they should also have access to the instruments, arguing that it is unfair to reserve their use only for asylum seekers. This problem however has been partially overcome with either Sheila or Karen agreeing on an individual basis that people could borrow instruments until somebody who they were really meant for needed them and then they had to bring them back.
2.3 Lessons Learnt
There appears to be three important lessons that people could learn from the project: not to underestimate the generosity of the public, the usefulness of informality and flexibility within projects and the utilisation of paid time to create projects which will eventually become voluntary.
People are very generous and happy to donate ‘items’, in this case instruments (though there are similar projects with furniture etc). It could be reasoned that people may prefer to donate when they can see the practical results; their money is not going into an organisation or group to fund salaries or office space, rather they can see the physical tangible results of their generosity in the community.
Informal structures within small organisations are useful so that flexibility is enhanced to overcome day to day problems which are unforeseeable. For instance in the case where non-refugee members of the community wanted to use the instruments, informal one-to-one agreements were used to resolve the issue. Projects which start small may not need to be over concerned originally with rigid plans, but instead allow themselves to evolve to the needs of the groups they are serving.
People can use their paid time within a certain job, in this case the BBC, to set up projects which will become largely voluntary when the opportunity presents itself. Often resources and networks exist and which although do not immediately appear as relevant can be utilised in innovative ways
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