“Build community. Come together in unity and the magic happens.” Toby Gorniak MBE at Fundraising on the Margins
Today I attended the excellent conference Fundraising on the Margins, organised by South West Fundraisers Forum. Here are my notes from the inspirational keynote speaker, Toby Gorniak.
I am a Romany gypsy born in Poland, speak 5 languages
Came to England in 2001 to start a better life, escaping racism
Met people who showed “kindness, respect, helped me become the person I am, including at school
Started with dance: hip hop, breaking – learned about sharing – in hiphop we say “teach to teach” – the ripple effect
Started company Street Factory with my wife
Started teaching in my local church – a dance space
50 people turned up by the 3rd session, then 100 people every week, any age to come have fun and dance
Started own crew, needed bigger space, took on a huge space, we paid for everything, realised a lot of kids were only coming to the free sessions, so started sponsoring some of the kids to attend
A space to be, grow, belong
18 years on from starting the company… we performed in Plymouth, London, Scotland, all over. One of our dancers won a BBC young dancer show and is now touring
People can live their dreams – drives me
I learned about funding – how to “be like water” when you don’t get funding – adjust, navigate – think how else can I make funds come in to support this project
Sometimes I had to go out and do another job to support the work
Learned how to become more sustainable – received three