Spotlight on: Joe – Volunteering with Circus Skills!

April 6, 2017

We’ve been housing wonderful guardians in a former commercial property in Burngreave, Sheffield since September last year. One of them, Joe, was already volunteering nearby. He volunteers for an organisation called Greentop Circus. Greentop teach circus skills to anyone who wants to learn and aims to strengthen communities and circus artists in the area.

In the last few months Joe and Greentop were preparing for a youth show. Read on for more!

Dot Dot Dot | Affordable Housing | Sheffield | Volunteering

Volunteering with Circus Skills

“With the youth circus we are preparing for a show. That is 4 separate classes of kids, 10-15 children per class, of a range of ages and abilities, with whom we have to guide in actions, music, costume and synchronisation.

Anyway this month we have been leading the children in the workout “uptown abs”. We have lead each of the 4 classes each Saturday 4 x 4 = 16 times. Plus I’ve led it on our Thursday adult skill share evenings too. So, 16 + 4 = 20 “uptown abs” workouts this month. I wish I had the flat stomach to show for it 🙁

I guess at the moment my biggest memory is last Saturday. I entertained one child on my lunch break when her parent forgot to pick her up. We did some acro-balance, which is easy when your flyer is a light acrobatic child.

I stayed in a later class when I could have gotten off early because one child, who was doing two classes back to back (she was gonna miss the next week or something, so was making up the time/practice) needed the extra attention. I taught her 2-3 new moves (she is very new) which she learned really quickly with the 1 to 1 attention. Then practised some doubles trapeze because the other teachers were organising the show.”

The Show

“I managed to get my manager Trudi to face paint many of the children for the show completing / improving their costumes no end (Trudi is a very talented face paint artist, even better than me!)

For the show we had to re-arrange the centre from a practice space into a performance space, with appropriate seating, and lighting.

The kids arrived an hour early, so they had a little time to get into costume, get their faces painted, warm up and practice.

7 minutes before the show I was volun-told I was going to be the compere for the show. (I took the bullet voluntarily because Trudi, Jade and Jess didn’t want to do it, but I did only have 7 minutes warning). I am told I was magnificent, but they would say that wouldn’t they.

The Sunday after the show, we had a more fun based session, using different equipment (such as hoop and rope) that we had not been using, because we had been wanting to focus and hone one set of skills for the show.

A number of the children (and instructors) were in London at the National Centre for Circus Arts, partaking in a national gathering of performing children.

This session was good, even if not as much circus progression was made as usually would have been, and the children really enjoyed it. Though, giving children piggy back rides isn’t really circus, and doing 2 at once is really bad for your back, and annoys the more serious tutors!”

So, thanks to Joe for his insight into the world of circus skills volunteering! If you live in Sheffield and are interested in volunteering/participating at Greentop Circus, you can visit their website for more information. If you’d be interested in living in our property in Sheffield in the future, please apply now.

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I feel strongly connected with my guardian neighbours. I am getting to know other parts of the community too, through my volunteering.
Jon, Wycombe
“I was drawn to property guardianship because I wanted to live affordably in London which is pretty hard to do – and the volunteering aspect of guardianship with Dot Dot Dot really appealed to me as a way of giving back to the community.”
Carl, High Barnet
“Being a guardian gives me the freedom to do good, invest time in work I believe in and be part of a fascinating community. It’s a no-brainer.”
Sam, Thamesmead
“As a property guardian with Dot Dot Dot I save £450 per month compared with what I used to pay on rent – that’s a significant difference.”
Josh, Poplar
“If I wasn’t a property guardian I would either be paying a ridiculous amount of money on renting in London or unable to move out of my grandmother’s house at all. I certainly wouldn’t be able to afford to spend time volunteering.”
Bella, Bow
“Being a property guardian with Dot Dot Dot means you do more than simply live somewhere. Instead, because you volunteer you really become part of the community. The best bit is knowing you’ve made a difference and have had a positive impact on those around you.”
Tim, High Wycombe
“Dot Dot Dot has helped me get to know people around my area and it has been a great introduction to volunteering.”
Lamonte, Sutton
“When I started investigating guardianship options, Dot Dot Dot stood out because of the emphasis on volunteering and contributing to the local community.”
Alison, Bow
“Dot Dot Dot has been a perfect springboard to the city.”
Tom, Croydon
“Once I knew that everyone was up for 16 hours of volunteering a month, I felt pretty confident they’d be great, considerate housemates, and they are.”
Kit, Croydon