A Community Standing Together

I write this piece to ask for your help - you who are reading this, a part of the Pagan and Esoteric community which makes up the Occultural landscape of the UK and beyond.

Please, if you are able, take this survey (link) - a census of the community to help all of us access grants from funding streams in the UK.

In re-launching The Visible College, I and the other directors are seeking to offer a venue in South Gloucestershire to members of the Pagan and Esoteric community where they are able to hire space for events without fear of prejudice or discrimination, and facilitate events elsewhere which require organisation and resources which some groups may not have access to.

We are very pleased to announce that The Visible College is now officially registered as a Community Interest Company (C.I.C.) in the UK. This is a not-for-profit limited company with articles of association and community aims, which requires documents proving the way(s) in which it will benefit the community. Our primary aim is ‘The advancement of religion for the public benefit’, however TVC itself is not explicitly a religious organisation - the faith and beliefs of the wider community are what we seek to represent and facilitate.

Now that we are registered as a C.I.C. we can apply for grants from charitable funders, and have begun this process to improve the venue we offer for events, and offer bursaries to disadvantaged or marginalised members of the community who would otherwise struggle to attend events. During this process, something curious happened: we found that the very barriers to entry that we are attempting to overcome, may also be barriers to accessing funding which has been granted to more mainstream groups.

Our proposal for the grants starts with the assertion that the Pagan and Esoteric community has a crossover with marginalised groups due to other protected characteristics and socio-economic factors, such as disability, poverty, gender and sexuality, and ethnicity. Anecdotally this is self-evident, but it’s hard to prove this to the establishment. We have all had to rent a room as a ‘meditation’ or ‘mind-body-spirit’ group, or been forced to choose a venue which is not wheelchair-accessible as it’s the only place available, but how often is that recorded?

To give an example, I was recently asked to describe what benefits could be measured by providing bursaries for those who could not otherwise access an event. This weekend I am speaking at the Pagan Tribal Gathering in the Midlands, and most people would say that the benefits of attending include learning new skills or information, enjoying the natural landscape, and being part of a community. In more practical terms that could lead to improved mental and physical health, networking leading to employment or social opportunities, and access to education. I was asked point blank - how can you measure that?

So, we have a proposition - let’s work together and build up this evidence. We have created a questionnaire to act as a census for the Pagan and Esoteric community. This will ask you about your personal background, your practices, and what challenges and barriers you have faced when looking to practice your beliefs. We will evaluate this data and produce findings, which TVC will make available to any other registered not-for-profit organisation within the community such as the Pagan Federation, to help us bid for grants to improve the community however we can.

You can take the questionnaire here (link) to inform and shape the discourse around the Pagan and Esoteric community in the UK.

There is no requirement to identify yourself or give an email, and information given will not be passed on to third parties, nor used for marketing purposes (you can sign up to TVC’s newsletter on the homepage instead).

I hope that you can see the value of such a census, and take part, so we can stand together as a community and rightfully apply for the assistance other communities take for granted.

Thank you for your help.