Hey Erin! Can you explain exactly what Home Team Project is, for people who don’t know?

Home Team Project is a series of free creative workshops for young people in Grenada and Carriacou aiming to push a collaborative and DIY culture.

We are made up of three parts. Erin Corrian-Alexis, Shivani Dayaram and Brandon John. Essentially Erin posted a crowd funding page for the workshops on Instagram that led to Brandon, a Grenadian photographer and photo journalist reaching out to get on board. After the first year of workshops, Shivani, looking for a grass roots volunteering project, contacted Trippin (a conscious travel app) who then directed her to home Team Project. We have now all been working together for 8 months and are currently in Grenada relaxing after finishing up our 5th workshop in Carriacou.

What is it about your workshops that makes them “sustainable”?

Our workshops are sustainable because we are thinking consciously about our materials, tools and where we are spending our money. Our aims are to invest as much as possible in the local economy and to reuse, repurpose and recycle. This includes our materials and equipment as well as teaching these methods in the workshops. Our Converse customisation session for example; the shoes were donated from a friend with access to what would be industry waste samples, the paints and brushes were reused from a previous workshop, we found this great quality paper going to waste at a printers in London and everything else (water, cups and pencils) were locally bought. Our photography workshops as well, we improved last years classes by shooting on borrowed digital cameras, phones and tablets. These small changes make the workshops sustainable for the students too - we are trying to design the workshops so the students can continue to use these skills when we aren’t here.

Why did you choose to focus specifically on Grenada and Carriacou?

Erin: My dad’s parents were both born in Carriacou. He and my mum spent a lot of time out here and it’s a home for my family.

What can we expect from you and HTP in the next 12 months?

A lot. We’ve currently got our 2018 photography classes work on display in Carriacou Heritage Museum which is a big win for us and allows past students to share their work with their families. Brandon’s a New Yorker and its only right that we hold an exhibition and fundraising event for the Grenadian community over there. We’ve also got something for London coming very soon too!

What can Public Ambition and our readers do to support you?

Follow us on our socials @HomeTeamProject / fb @HomeTeamUK and keep an eye out for our events and exhibitions. We will be opening another fundraising page soon for our future plans which will be on our website too. www.hometeamproject.com

Are there any creatives or brands that you’d like to put a spotlight on?

Any brands that have supported us. We threw our last event at the N-Studios space. Depop too for their support but also using Depop is a sustainable option for shopping/selling. And obviously our family at Trippin who have supported us from the start