Tapping feet to the beat

Oyster Project is a self-help charity created by people with disability for people with disability; its nature, form and direction are determined by its members who look after each other. Fundamental principles of reciprocity and engagement have given rise to an entity that’s more like an organism than an organisation. Oyster has a palpable soul.

Based in Lewes, East Sussex – a town famed for fiery, bonfire night mayhem and rebellious thinkers – Oyster’s watchword is ‘creativity’. As co-founder John Russell puts it: “We are not predicated on money. The currency of our transaction is creativity, collaboration, cooperation, endeavour and engagement to the best of one’s abilities.”

John, a middle-aged, wheelchair user with the vigour of a 20 year-old, is pleased when I say how striking the atmosphere of happiness and contentment at Oyster’s events is. It’s good to know an objective observer also feels what he calls the ‘buzz’.

Oyster was born out of John’s involvement in a local branch charity where the whole system was patronising, unconstructive and uncreative. The experience really inspired him to do other things: “It was dead; just about raising money and doshing it out.” There was virtually no engagement with members and the majority of events didn’t even have disabled access.

It all began as an IT support project. Together with Gary, who has MS, John started helping disabled people with IT needs; an internet community developed and ‘real-world’ activity soon followed. First came the watercolour group – the most popular venture to date and still expanding. This was succeeded by the Oyster Café and a welter of other ventures such as the organic allotment, drama, photography and radio groups – to mention a few.

Everything Oyster does is creative according to John; he says creativity is like a fire that has to be kindled, nurtured and gently directed: “We’re flexible, what we’re looking at is the process, it could be going for a walk/wheelie, preparing food and eating it, anything; anything is creative.”

And that includes fundraising. Having raised funds for disco and karaoke kits they turned them into both an activity that members can engage in and a source of income, by delivering club nights and other events to institutions. A young man called Matt was introduced to me, bursting to talk about how he deejays for Oyster’s ‘Club Foot’. Not only are disabled people doing it for themselves but they are doing it for others. Oyster is mainstream, engaged with the community. For example, the local council has asked them to run the refreshment bar at a new cinema venture in conjunction with Lewes Film Club.

All-important ‘unrestricted’ funds which allow flexibility of use are raised through the likes of raffles or cooking food from scratch and selling it. But impressive amounts of ‘restricted’ funding have also been raised: over £47,000, from the Heritage Lottery Fund for Oyster’s Our Histories project, is one example.

Independence and flexibility are important. “Funding committees don’t work on the same principles as we do,” says John, “so there is a bit of a mismatch. We don’t tick boxes. We’re interested in working with people as individuals. Oyster functions from the bottom up instead of top down.”

Membership is free, the only requirement being disability and engagement where possible. There are 55 members including associate members, often relatives who help out. They are all part of the family or ‘tribe’.

“We want people to be active,” says John, “because everything we do is embedded in activity, it’s the cosmic dance of creative, psychic energy. We tap our feet to the beat. We experience that creative vibe and we channel and nurture it. Enthusiasm inspires others and before you know it you’ve got an active, creative group. It’s an organic, person-centred process”.

The secret of Oyster’s method? In a nutshell: “We trust people and give them responsibility and have expectations and strive for excellence. They own it, it’s theirs.”