Peter Lavery
Summer of 68
Saturday 9 October - Friday 22 October 2021
Photographer Peter Lavery is collaborating with St George’s Crypt to help them celebrate their 90th Anniversary which falls on 14th October 2021. BLANK_ will host an exhibition of photographs; St George’s Crypt have been working with homeless and vulnerable adults in Leeds since the 1930’s; supporting them with food, clothing and accommodation. In recent times their remit has grown exponentially. Their overall mission is to support homeless and vulnerable people in Leeds from chaos to citizenship, away from a life on the streets.
Peter Lavery born in Wakefield, became a professional photographer in 1972 after gaining an MA from the Royal College of Art. In 1968 whilst still a student at Leeds Art College he went out at night with his camera and made a picture story about the people who used the place for shelter and food. The culmination of these nightly excursions have resulted in some important socially relevant images which have never been published or seen before- they have been in storage, forgotten about until unearthed by Peter during lock down.
St George's Crypt has been supporting homeless and vulnerable adults in Leeds since 1930. They have developed a service that supports people from the street back to independence; from chaos to citizenship. We work with people in alcohol dependency, with addiction issues, mental and physical health needs. They work with partners across Leeds to support our clients to establish strong, positive foundations, develop life skills and ultimately move into safe and thriving communities.
Their pathway now includes a drug and alcohol service, Growing Rooms, where clients live in shared houses, attend daily therapeutic workshops and volunteer to build up work readiness and experience. They also have a block of 14 supported living apartments for men who have a history of chronic alcohol addiction. They work with them to reduce their alcohol intake in a bespoke, state-of-the-art building with all support onsite. They have just completed a 24 unit block of supported living apartments for people who are vulnerably housed, where they can move into the final stages of the journey towards housing independence.
St George’s have come a long way from our roots but still remain true to our core mission; to support homeless and vulnerable adults in Leeds. They work with love and compassion at the heart of everything they do, understanding that this is vital when supporting someone to change. Now, as opposed to when they started 90 years ago, they have many more tools at our disposal to achieve this, and will hopefully continue to evolve on the next stage of our journey.
Supported by Malmaison, Made by Team, Leeds Inspired, University Centre Leeds and Art Director Pete Denton
www.handheldimage.com
@peterlaveryphotography