artists in residence

Connect displaced people with local communities with Colette Batten-Turner

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Episode notes

Colette Batten-Turner is the founder and CEO of Conversation Over Borders, a community interest company connecting displaced people with the wider community to cut through social isolation, uphold rights and ensure everyone has equal opportunities to thrive in their lives in the UK.

Colette started the initiative to connect refugees and asylum seekers with English teachers during the first lockdown in march 2020, and Conversation over Borders has gone from strength to strength since then. This April will see Colette and the team partner with Brighton based, Refugee Radio, to publish a book and film that tell the stories of displaced people and highlight the humanity of the individuals caught up in the asylum process.

For this episode, we spoke about what motivated Colette to start the initiative, how the book and film project came about, what creativity means within Conversation Over Borders, and why storytelling and collaboration are key.

Find out more about Colette here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/colette-batten-turner/
Check out Conversation Over Borders - https://www.conversationoverborders.org/
Follow COB on social - https://www.instagram.com/conversationoverborders/

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2:15 - What does creativity mean to Colette?
3:45 - The power in collaboration
5:00 - The idea behind Conversation over Borders
16:50- On being a community interest company
18:16 - The biggest challenge with running COB
20:45 - The upcoming book and film collaboration with Refugee Radio
28:28 - Colette's advice on bringing your own idea to life
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artists in residence is hosted by Isabelle Wilkinson, founder of the artists in residence community. To get in touch, pitch yourself as a guest, or share your creative project with us, email [email protected]

Episode produced by Billy Truswell. Brand design and episode artwork by Holly Whitaker.

Catch us on social

artists in residence - https://www.instagram.com/artistsinreside/

Host - Isabelle Wilkinson - https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabellewilkinson/

Podcast editor - Billy Truswell - https://www.linkedin.com/in/billy-truswell-94535011a/