‘There’s more to unite us than divide us’ – PhD student shows the value of community 

A GCU PhD student has emphasised the power of community by bringing people together through local initiatives and raising money to help young people.

Social Sciences PhD student Gavin Brewis has recently concluded a campaign to raise money for families facing the cost of living crisis, by raising money to buy school uniforms for those who couldn’t otherwise afford it.

Gavin, who created the The People's School Uniform Project, has managed to raise over £5000 for children in the Southside of Glasgow and is continuing to do his bit to support young people.

Using his love of music, he has been volunteering at the Govanhill Community Centre to teach children how to write their own songs and increase their overall confidence.

We spoke to Gavin about the importance of unity and the value of supporting your local community:

Why did you decide to start The People’s School Uniform Project?

“It basically started after I was speaking to my partner about her daughter going back to school, but her old uniform was still sitting there so we planned to donate it.

Although it’s a great thing to do, the idea of having donated school uniforms can be a bit alienating for the people that wear them. Growing up, I had to wear hand-me-down uniforms and it felt a bit embarrassing at times; especially if other people heard that I was wearing second-hand clothes. Sometimes the uniform was fairly new, but even being aware that I was wearing donated uniform affected my confidence a bit. Situations like that can lead to alienation and bullying, so together we thought about doing something that could help people going through that – especially as we live through the cost-of-living crisis. Families will be struggling and can’t always spend a lot of money. I spoke to someone recently who bought their child a school uniform and, without including a bag or jacket, came to around £170. People won’t be receiving that much as part of their school uniform grant.

The idea behind the Uniform Project is about helping families and ensuring that kids weren’t going to school feeling alienated about their uniform; especially those who are living through issues of poverty. There’s an economic basis for it, but there is also a social basis and children will be feeling that more than anyone. In this day and age, young people are caring more about self-image and materialism so it can affect people in many ways.

The project also helped to show the power of community to struggling families and hopefully introducing it to more areas. We initially focused on the Southside of Glasgow – Govan, Govanhill, Pollok; all of which are local areas that are struggling. Everything has just gone from there!”

You’ve been involved in some other community projects since then, tell us a bit about that?

“Recently, I’ve been doing some work with a community youth project and it’s something I’ve wanted to do since before the pandemic but it sadly couldn’t go ahead due to community centres closing. The person who organized it, Kelly Smith, works with the Govanhill Community Centre and she was looking to bring in some people to help as part of the youth centre.   

The part I’ve been helping with is hosting music workshops, where I’ve been teaching them to write music and even some poetry. The children who come to the centre often don’t speak a great amount of English, so during the workshops we have been using dictionaries to learn new words and incorporate it into songs that we have written. It’s giving them the chance to enhance their vocabulary, increase their confidence and sets them up with skills that they can use later in life. They seem to be really enjoying it so I’m quite happy!”

You’ve shown that communities coming together can be a great thing, why should more people try to help their local communities if they can?

“Through projects like the Uniform Project and the Govanhill Community Centre, we’ve been able to build on what’s already a growing community and help bring everyone together. Govanhill especially has such a diverse range of people from different countries, and it’s through local initiatives that we’ve been able to bring people together.

There’s more to unite us than there is to divide us and that’s now getting taught to people from a young age. Unity is power and getting involved in your community can show different generations the value of coming together and that we’re not alone. It’s encouraging people to become a bit more conscious of what’s happening around them and shows them how they can help.”

By Rachael McAlonan

Got a SCEBE or GSBS story? Email me at Rachael.McAlonan@gcu.ac.uk or connect with me on social media  here