Transcription
We approached about 15 organisations with no success, we wanted to live together. I was intrigued by a self-build leaflet in a Lewisham housing office. My partner had a dream to build his own home and I was quite good at DIY. We visited the scheme, it was really interesting. We passed our trial period but there were no vacancies. We decided to volunteer while we were waiting for a place on the scheme. We took it seriously, turning up every week. After several months a place became available and we joined the scheme. It was LOVELY. To be accepted.
The building was challenging, lots of ups and downs. We were a disparate group of people. People wanted to do their own thing. There were a few headbutting disagreements. A major issue were the required hours. People had carer responsibilities, full time work and meeting their contractual hours was difficult.
But I really enjoyed the building process: I enjoyed climbing on the scaffold, being on the roof, seeing the houses emerge from the mud. It was a long process but great to be involved in building all these homes.
The arson attacks were incredibly disappointing. People were angry and most of us were afraid. It made me question WHY I WAS BUILDING and DO I WANT TO LIVE HERE? The prospect of a house DROVE ME FORWARD. It was great that you found extra resources to finish the homes as some decided to give up on the building.
The self-build helped me develop resilience, a mental toughness. We JUST KEPT ON GOING, I’d seen the mud, seen the frames go up and I wanted to see it COMPLETED. To get a home at the end of it was GREAT, I AM SO VERY PROUD OF WHAT I DID. There is a LEGACY our children can see that their parents did something great together. My son has some idea about my role hopefully this exhibition will inform and inspire him. He has an awareness of the eco issues hopefully this will show him that his mum was involved in and creating London’s first social housing with grass roofs.
You need a strong group, NOT necessarily like each other but focused on the goal of building a community of homes. There can be LOTS OF CONFLICT. BE PATIENT AND PERSISTENT!
(T12)
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