Always on
This project successfully funded on 16th June 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
This project successfully funded on 16th June 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Help us secure our first permanent home. With our space ending again this July, women in Calderdale need a safe place to grow and belong.
Help Verd de Gris Arts Open Its First Permanent Home
Who We Are
Verd de gris arts is a not-for-profit organisation that has used creativity to empower women and girls in Calderdale for over 25 years. Our work is trauma-informed, deeply relational, and led by women with lived experience.
We don’t just run courses — we help women become what one of our participants, Hana, calls “magical cycle breakers”: women who stand in front of generational trauma and say, “This ends with me.”
Real Change Is Already Happening
Our flagship project, FIBRE, has delivered 301 sessions for 207 women, with over 90% progressing into education, training, mentoring or volunteering.
Women like Shamin, who was denied an education and controlled for most of her life, now speaks at universities. Jade, who overcame profound trauma, now mentors girls and sits on our Advisory Group.
This is the change we exist to create — women not just surviving, but leading.
Led By Women Who’ve Walked The Journey
FIBRE is led by our co-founder Sharon Marsden, whose lived experience shaped our unique trauma-informed approach. She is joined by Sam and Georg — both graduates of our programmes and now paid co-workers supporting other women.
Our Management Committee includes professionals alongside women with lived experience, and our Advisory Group — made up of members of our One Voice Collective — holds real decision-making power.
This work is not just for the community. It is designed and led by the community.
The Problem: We Still Don’t Have A Home
For 25 years, we have delivered this vital work from temporary hired rooms — setting up and packing away at the end of every session.
Despite being a constant, trusted presence in women’s lives, we have never had a stable physical environment where deep, trauma-informed support can truly flourish.
Since the COVID pandemic, we have already lost access to space multiple times. In July, we face losing our current base again.
For women managing anxiety, isolation and complex life challenges, these disruptions are not just inconvenient — they can mean losing a safe place, routine, and vital support networks.
Without a permanent home, our growing movement cannot reach its full potential.
The Vision: A Permanent Creative Hub
We have found the perfect 700 sq ft space in Halifax — our first dedicated, permanent home.
This will be a trauma-informed, multipurpose hub where our One Voice Collective meets weekly, therapeutic courses run without interruption, and women can try out their own creative workshop ideas with our support.
There will be a confidential corner for one-to-one support, and a creative studio where women can produce podcasts, zines and exhibitions.
This is not just a room.
It is a lasting community asset.
What Your Donation Will Do
The annual cost of this space is £16,724.
Our existing grants — including a recent £357,000 National Lottery award — already contribute £6,724.
We now need to raise £10,000 from our community to secure our first year.
Your donation will:
• Pay the rent — keeping our home secure
• Cover utilities — keeping the space warm and welcoming
• Fund insurance and service charges — keeping it safe
Most importantly, this crowdfunder buys us time.
It gives us a stable foundation to fundraise for long-term sustainability.
Your support doesn’t just pay for a room.
It unlocks national investment and ensures every pound of Lottery funding achieves maximum impact.
Join Us
We have the vision.
We have the community.
We just need a home.
Help us open the doors ❤️
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made