ONCA Christmas Appeal 2023

Aim

We are asking the business community in Sussex to help us raise vital funds to support our community arts and education programme in 2024.

Who are we?

ONCA is a Brighton-based arts charity that bridges social and environmental justice issues with creativity, through a programme of community-focused learning. 

We’ve been around for over 11 years, working to make arts accessible to our diverse local communities. We raise awareness around climate issues and biodiversity loss, amplifying the voices of those most marginalised to build on the learning and action of the wider climate justice movement. Our work responds to the needs of local people whilst nurturing solidarity with global frontline communities affected by climate change. 

Why are we asking local businesses to support us?

This year, we are turning to the business community to support us to deliver the work we do with local people. As a result of public funding cuts to the arts and increased running costs we need to raise vital funds to keep our community space open in 2024.

We have ambitious plans for the year ahead and are more determined than ever to bring people together for climate justice through a range of arts and learning activities.

At its core climate justice is about community building and empowering local people to come together and organise ways to push back against the very forces that plunder our planet and keep people in poverty for profit.  

How can you help and where will your donations go?

We’re aiming to raise £6,000 (£10,000 stretch target)  to go towards our core costs in 2024. We tirelessly work to fundraise to meet our overhead costs. Your support will make a big difference in helping towards staff development, volunteer recruitment and organisational growth. With your help we can continue our work.

Some of our current projects:

Funds raised will help support our regular programme of activities, including but not limited to:

Dresscue 

Since Dresscue was established in 2021 we have supported 914 attendances, 175 repairs and alterations of clothes that may have otherwise gone to landfill, 293 new items have been created mostly from our donated stash of recycled fabric. Through our regular clothes swap 808 items have been rehomed instead of ending up in waste.  

Working in partnership with local organisations, we support refugees and vulnerable migrants to access our weekly Friday sessions. Since 2023 we have opened a second day per/ week supporting participants from Lighthouse, a specialist service for people with personality disorder diagnosis, to access and benefit from this model of creative mental health support. 

ONCA Climate Café

This project aims to support the mental health and emotional wellbeing needs of local people struggling with climate breakdown. We provide a safe space and a warm meal, as well as signposting to wider community, mental health and climate action initiatives, helping people to access opportunities across the city.

Artist programme and residencies

Throughout the year ONCA hosts residencies for artists who want to research and develop work in response to environmental and social challenges. In 2024 we want to offer residencies specifically to artists who face barriers to involvement and employment in the arts, such as people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities and people from working-class backgrounds.

NHS Wellbeing projects

Since 2018 ONCA has been working in partnership with The University Hospital Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, to deliver wellbeing workshops for over 1,000 NHS staff at hospital sites across Sussex. Funds raised through this crowdfunder will help us nurture this partnership and provide wellbeing opportunities to healthcare staff and thank them for the work they do.

Education

Over the past 11 years, we've collaborated with local schools and artists to develop and deliver a variety of workshops and activities. We work with schools and youth groups across Brighton and Sussex on projects that build confidence and connection with the environment, specialising in arts-based learning and creative environmental education outside the formal education sector. We also support scientists, researchers and students to connect with artists to deliver projects about environmental and sustainability issues. 

ONCA is committed to facilitating creative spaces where people from all backgrounds can collectively develop inclusive solutions to social and environmental problems. We design and deliver creative activities that promote education for sustainable development.

Rewards:

Sponsor a Climate Cafe: £500 (6 available)

To deliver 1x  Climate Cafe costs ONCA approximately £500, this includes but is not limited to:

• 1 fully trained member of staff and 1 volunteer to plan and deliver a session
• a warm, safe environment at ONCA to run the session
• refreshments and a warm meal for up to 15 participants per session

A donation of £500  will help us deliver a Climate Cafe session to support the mental health and emotional wellbeing needs of local people struggling with climate breakdown.

In return for your £500 donation you will get:

• a private 2 hour Climate Cafe with light refreshments for up to 15 participants
• a shoutout on our social media
• a blog post about your organisation on our website

*workshops will be held at our gallery in central Brighton or online.

Sponsor an Artist: £1,000 (6 available)

As part of our Artist support programme we offer funding to artists who face barriers to involvement and employment in the arts, such as people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities and people from working-class backgrounds. 

Artists are given £1,000 to develop a body of work, alongside the following support from ONCA:

• a week long exhibition in our gallery or window gallery
• curatorial support from ONCA’s Gallery team
• online marketing promotion through our social media platforms
• studio space at ONCA to develop work

In return for your donation of £1,000* you will receive:

• private Hire of our Gallery for either a daytime or evening event, including refreshments for up to 20 people. You can use this as a time to connect with your team in our city centre gallery or perhaps for an evening social event
• your logo or name in vinyl in our window during the artist exhibition
• an invitation to any events including the artist opening event
• a shoutout on our social media
• a blog post about your organisation on our website

*Your donation of £1,000 will go directly to the artist.

Sponsor Dresscue for a month: £1,200 (6 available) 

To deliver 1 x Dresscue session costs ONCA approximately £300, this includes but is not limited to: 

• 2 fully trained members of staff and 1 volunteer to plan and deliver a session
• a warm, safe environment at ONCA to run the session
• refreshments for up to 12 participants per session
• materials and equipment for up to 12 participants per session
• bus tickets for up to 12 participants per session for whom transport would be a barrier to accessing sessions.

A donation of £1,200 will help us deliver 4 Dresscue sessions, working with up to 48 participants from marginalised communities.

In return for your donation of £1,200 you will get:

• a 2 hour bespoke Dresscue make and mend session* for up to 12 participants or a 2 hour hand sewing workshop* for up to 12 participants 
• a shoutout on our social media
• a blog post about your organisation on our website

*all workshops will be held at our gallery in central Brighton

ONCA’s 2024 Charity Partner: £3,000 (1 available)

A donation of £3,000 goes a long way to helping us deliver some of the listed projects. In addition to helping us deliver some of our community projects, your support helps us develop our wellbeing programme for NHS staff, support local D/deaf artists and support our small, dedicated team.

In return for your donation of £3,000 you will receive the following:

• private Hire of our Gallery for either a daytime or evening event, including refreshments for up to 20 people. You can use this as a time to connect with your team in our city centre gallery or perhaps for an evening social event.
• a 2 hour bespoke Dresscue make and mend session* for up to 12 participants or a 2 hour hand sewing workshop* for up to 12 participants 
• your business logo on all our marketing materials
• shout outs and coverage on our social media channels
• listed as our 2024 Charity Partner on our website
• included in press releases and media coverage
• included in our monthly Newsletters

Crowdfunding in this moment 

We want to acknowledge that our crowdfunder is happening at a time of great loss and sadness in the world, especially in occupied Gaza. At the time of launching this, conflict and harms continue to destroy human lives, erase cultures and decimate ecologies. As an organisation prioritising art for social change, we made the decision to dedicate elements of our annual Lost Species Day programme to raise awareness of the conflict in Israel-Palestine focusing on the destruction of olive trees as a symbol of Palestinian struggle and interdependence in the sacred web of life. You can find out more about our exhibition and events programme: Can We Live? Running from November - December 2023 by visiting our website. 

Your support allows us to continue to prioritise conversations and education around climate justice issues at the community level.

This project successfully funded on 19th January 2024