Michael Avila
Community Voices is an interview series where Michael Avila and Ani Kanakaki speak to a range of folks from the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland about the work they’re doing to bring about positive change. The series, formally known as #AtsUsNai, is produced in partnership with AvilaMedia and funded by the Community Relations Council‘s Media Grant Scheme. Their latest interview is with Becky Bellamy and Connor Kerr of Another World Belfast.
Much of this series has been concerned with finding out how people in the community are playing their part to strengthen the fabric of society. However, the material fabrics and household items that we wear and use on a daily basis are something we often take for granted. Dignity and physical well-being are just as essential as the social transformation we long for in the world. Another World Belfast addresses both of these issues simultaneously in their quest for a better future.
Rebecca ‘Becky’ Bellamy and Connor Kerr formed Another World Belfast in 2017 to begin to address some of the inequalities they saw in society. They came from very ‘different worlds’, with Connor working in the international fashion and beauty industry and Becky climbing the corporate ladder in global business. They were both successful in their own right, but not necessarily fulfilled.
They developed a mutual respect and friendship initially while Connor was Becky’s stylist before she moved to London in 2010 and continued when Connor left Belfast not long afterwards to explore the world via volunteering. At an integral time in both of their lives, their worlds collided and they began to realise that their skills and expertise complimented each other well. From the outset, they developed a close bond, and quickly became inseparable despite their initially very different perspectives and circumstances.
Through their experiences travelling and becoming more aware of the world around them and the realities that many people face, they became conscious of their privileged status in society and they wanted to make a difference in peoples’ lives using their skills and experiences.
Initially, Connor had a vision of using his skills in the fashion industry to simply raise much needed funds. Becky first got involved to help out with the organisational side of things. Connor described their working relationship as such:
“The vision for what Another World Belfast would be, started with me, but it absolutely would not have been possible without Becky. It was borne of a personal wish to occupy my time positively, after I was forced to return home to recover from a serious illness that had damaged the nerves in my leg. The success we enjoyed from a practical sense was only part of the real story. Our relationship and the support we received from the people of Belfast saved my life and gave me true hope as to what was possible with self-belief, love and community.“
They would partner with the Rainbow Project and launch their first initative in 2017 with the city’s first donation-based, pop up salon experience, entitled ‘Hair with a Humanitarian Mission’. Their goal was to fundraise to support HIV and LGBTQ+ services in Northern Ireland. They hosted some of Ireland’s top hair and make-up artists who provided their services and raised over £3,000.
They were inspired by the success of this, but knew there was more that needed to be done.
Later during Christmas of 2017, they ran the ‘Toilets & Underwear’ drive that would lay the foundations of their project moving forward. They were able to provide essential items to a multitude of underprivileged families struggling to make ends meet through Belfast’s holiday season.
Through this process, Connor and Becky were able to comprise a ‘top 10’ list of the items people most need. The results may in fact surprise you and can be found on their website.
Working with organisations to choose items based on need led Becky and Connor to create AWB’s ‘Love Packs’. The items that make up these packs can be purchased by anyone through the organisation’s Amazon wish List and they have been donated to individuals, families and charities in need throughout Northern Ireland. The whole point is to ‘Show Some Love’ to people who are less fortunate.
They also receive regular orders from many partnered ‘third sector’ organisations who aid the homeless, refugees and asylum-seekers, young people in care, families living in extreme poverty and vulnerable members of the LGBTQ+ community. Thus far, the AWB’s Love Packs have sent over 50,000 essential items to people throughout Northern Ireland.
The Love Pack works very much on the principle “if you can’t change the world, you can change someone’s world within it.” However, it became obvious to them early on, that they wanted to change the world as well. As someone who had been the victim of violent hate crime in the past, Connor had always been a passionate campaigner for rights and equality in the LGBTQ+ world. The more they learned about the social justice and issues faced by marginalised groups in their city, the more obvious it became to them that it was a natural step to use their voices and skills to empower people to create noise around these issues, as well as use their combined skills to provide practical, fun ways to bring people together to make change.
This work led Connor to be invited to speak at TEDx Stormont and Becky was asked to speak at the Alternative Queer Ulster event organised by the Green Party of Northern Ireland.
AWB is a registered social enterprise. Therefore, it also has a business model that contributes to its social impact and allows them to be independent.
They have been entirely self-funded to date. In 2018, they developed their own Coffee Scrub, an all-natural and cruelty free body scrub. To launch the product, they decided to drive a 20 year old caravan from Belfast to Ibiza and spent 4 months camping to showcase the product in local hippy markets. They found resounding success, with the product being endorsed by several well-known celebrities such as Ricky Lake, Fearne Cotton and DJ Blondish. The product has also become a regular feature at Pike’s hotel’s famous Cosmic Pineapple wellbeing events.
They now sell a plethora of products on their website, including ‘Show Some Love’ T-shirts, artist collaboration tees, a local favourite, their ‘Wee nuls’, as well as handmade candles and tote bags. All their products are vegan, made sustainably and 100% of the profits are used to pay for the running of the project, such as costs of petrol and promotional items like posters and flyers. It also allows them to facilitate ‘activism workshops’ to young people to empower and inspire them to impact their communities positively from an early age. You can shop for these items on their website to support their cause.
In three years, it’s safe to say things are moving fast in a very positive direction. AWB has recently been nominated to ITV News’ ‘Diversity Awards’ for their far reaching impact across Northern Ireland and beyond.
As for the future, Another World Belfast is committed to working in partnership with other organisations to increase the impact of Northern Ireland’s ‘third sector’ – a theme revisited time and time again throughout this series. They would like to establish a community hub, housing other social enterprises and charities in a shared space where they can work together and support each other in order to achieve an even greater transformation in society through increased efficiency and shared resources.
Becky and Connor see this as a vital step for the community sector moving into a future that recently has looked quite bleak for many of us around the world:
“Too often in society, even in the community sector, we see people competing rather than collaborating. Many people are trapped in consumerism, and often demand this at a low cost, but someone always ends up paying that cost. This is unnecessary, counterproductive and against the ethos of ‘Show Some Love’. We created this organisation, because we truly believe ‘Another World is possible’. That’s our goal and we are inspired by the generosity and commitment of a multitude of other organisations like us that may have different missions, but, ultimately, the same vision for the future – a better society.“
Though the Coronavirus has affected everyone to some degree, Another World Belfast has pressed on. They’ve had to limit the aspects of their work requiring contact and proximity with others, but they have been able to shift these responsibilities fully into the digital sphere, where they are continuing to provide their services at the same level prior to the crisis. No doubt their innovative approach as an organisation, by combining their personal interests, vast experience and assessing societal need, has enabled them to be creative in this difficult time.
In the midst of this pandemic, where essentiality is taking on new meaning, we can be grateful for organisations like Another World Belfast for continuing to provide not only material goods to people in need, but also the dignity that we all deserve.
AvilaMedia is a social enterprise running community and research projects across Northern Ireland. If you’re interested in being interviewed for the #AtsUsNai project, you can get in contact with AvilaMedia here.
