We have had an incredible and busy first half of 2025 here at B-HUGs.

Since starting the year with our Host (Jegna) Workshop, we have welcomed 3 new members of staff, Aisha, Fatou and Raitieli, who joined the project as research interns. Joy and Chris led our induction session in early March and we have all been working as a close-knit team ever since.

In March and April the B-HUGs Team and members of our wider Jegna community engaged in bespoke training to help us prep for this year’s B-HUGs Elective. The first was a Story-Tell session with Beyond Face where we explored methods of creative story-telling through writing and acting. The second was a Participatory Video training workshop run by Kier Harris from University of Leeds. This workshop focused on engaging young people in creative arts (film making) as a method of exploring critical topics. We were thrilled that our two B-HUGs partners from our partner schools were able to join us for this as well.

Also in March we ran the second of our B-HUGs Art Workshops with artist Jedidah Chick at a partner school and we expect to unveil the final piece at the school next month. The workshop ran over two days and we were joined by 20 pupils who contributed ideas, words and artwork to the collaborative piece.

Co-founders Melody and Safi recently returned from a visit with our international partners who founded Guardians of Heritage in the USA and Brazil. They spent 10 days filled with sharing sessions, meetings with community members and educational visits to key historical sites. Through newfound connection and collaboration, we know that we can continue to grow our activities and community.

We are now in the 10th week of this year’s B-HUGs Elective and are supporting pupils in finishing off the projects they have been working on with the Team and with Jegna over the course of the elective. Pupils will present their work at our final session next month where we will be celebrating all that they have achieved.