Excerpt from the January 2016 The Roles We Play newsletter.

Dear friends,
Welcome to the second newsletter for our project: The
Roles We Play: Recognising the Contribution of
People in Poverty; a full-colour publication, exhibition
and multi-media project from ATD Fourth World and
artist and photographer Eva Sajovic.
The Roles We Play: Recognising the Contribution of
People in Poverty is a collection of photographic
portraits and self-written biographies exploring the
roles played by those living in poverty within their
families, communities and society at large.

“The work aims to highlight the efforts and
validate the achievements of people who
experience poverty and social exclusion in the UK and to challenge the negative attitudesoften held towards such people.” Dann Kenningham, Project Coordinator

When we last started this project, the individuals and
families at ATD Fourth, we wanted The Roles We Play
to offer a new and refreshing perspective on the lives
of those facing poverty in the UK. Our goals for the
project were: “To challenge the negative attitudes
often held towards people in poverty by building new
perceptions of others around us, strengthening
community cohesion and encouraging positive
interaction between social groups.”

We launched The Roles We Play on October 17th
2014. Our goal then was to take the project to
community spaces within London. The public
response to the project was overwhelmingly positive.
This made us realise that we had to share this project
with communities not just in London but across the
UK, and beyond if we could. In our last newsletter, we
said that we would do exactly that – take the project to
community spaces all over the UK and beyond. That
is when The Roles We Play project became ‘Roles on
the Road’ and since June 2015, with the support of
Friends of ATD Fourth World, the participants of The
Roles We Play project have been sharing their stories,
engaging with communities and furthering our goal of
challenging stereotypes and negative attitudes
towards the poorest in our society. Roles on the Road
was challenging but rewarding as well. As one
participant said:

“I gained a feeling of accomplishment and
getting to travel also confidence and selfesteem.
I also do not feel as ashamed about
poverty as I did before.”

Tammy, Proud Mother

Download the full newsletter here.

For more information about The Roles We Play see www.atd-uk.org or www.therolesweplay.co.uk.