Poems & Voices

CD: ‘Poems and Voices’; Music provider: Music for Change.

A project between detainees at Campsfield House IRC and participants from Restore, a mental health charity.

This track introduces some of the sounds heard on the rest of the CD, including jamming sessions at Campsfield House IRC, poems written at the Restore centre and detainees singing traditional songs from their home culture.

CD: ‘Poems and Voices’; Music provider: Music for Change.

A project between detainees at Campsfield House IRC and participants from Restore, a mental health charity.

Sessions at Campsfield House IRC during the project often consisted of detainees taking turns to use the microphone and share songs from their culture, often from Bangladesh where a large group of the regular participants were from. This is one of them.

CD: ‘Poems and Voices’; Music provider: Music for Change.

A project between detainees at Campsfield House IRC and participants from Restore, a mental health charity.

Raymond from Restore talks about where he is; what the buildings look like, the garden, his interest in photography and his idea to make a calendar using his photographs.

CD: ‘Poems and Voices’; Music provider: Music for Change.

A project between detainees at Campsfield House IRC and participants from Restore, a mental health charity.

This poem was inspired by the words of Raymond, a member of the Restore group, and is about the flowers in the garden at the Restore centre, and hope for the future. 

CD: ‘Poems and Voices’; Music provider: Music for Change.

A project between detainees at Campsfield House IRC and participants from Restore, a mental health charity.

Raymond talks about how Restore has changed since he started coming, and how he helped to plaster the walls of the newer buildings.

CD: ‘Poems and Voices’; Music provider: Music for Change.

A project between detainees at Campsfield House IRC and participants from Restore, a mental health charity.

Raymond from Restore talks about his recent experience of having chemotherapy in hospital.

CD: ‘Poems and Voices’; Music provider: Music for Change.

A project between detainees at Campsfield House IRC and participants from Restore, a mental health charity.

Raymond from Restore explains his cancer and some of the treatment he needs for it. 

CD: ‘Poems and Voices’; Music provider: Music for Change.

A project between detainees at Campsfield House IRC and participants from Restore, a mental health charity.

Raymond from Restore talks about how he felt when his cancer returned. He also talks about the activities he likes to do at the centre, such as learning to use Photoshop.

CD: ‘Poems and Voices’; Music provider: Music for Change.

A project between detainees at Campsfield House IRC and participants from Restore, a mental health charity.

A detainee from Campsfield House IRC talks about the concept of ‘home’ as a fixed place and the difficulty of being ‘at home’ in the detention centre when detainees are only there temporarily.

CD: ‘Poems and Voices’; Music provider: Music for Change.

A project between detainees at Campsfield House IRC and participants from Restore, a mental health charity.

Sessions at Campsfield House IRC during the project often consisted of detainees taking turns to use the microphone and share songs from their culture, often from Bangladesh where a large group of the regular participants were from. This song was taught to other detainees so they could join in with playing and singing together.

CD: ‘Poems and Voices’; Music provider: Music for Change.

A project between detainees at Campsfield House IRC and participants from Restore, a mental health charity.

This song was written by members of the Restore group. They explored the concept of ‘home’ and had a discussion about whether it could be a positive or negative thing, and how they thought detainees might feel about the UK. They explored the idea of ‘home’ as a repressive place and wrote this song about freedoms.

CD: ‘Poems and Voices’; Music provider: Music for Change.

A project between detainees at Campsfield House IRC and participants from Restore, a mental health charity.

This track is from a jamming session at Campsfield House IRC. It uses a melodic motif from Johnny Cash’s ‘Ring of Fire’ as well as Latin American rhythms and Bengali vocals.

CD: ‘Poems and Voices’; Music provider: Music for Change.

A project between detainees at Campsfield House IRC and participants from Restore, a mental health charity.

This track is a series of poems written by members of the Restore group, inspired by Raymond’s stories about his experiences in hospital, at the Restore centre and his mental health. The music behind some of their words was provided by detainees at Campsfield House IRC.

1. Raymond’s Poem
2. My Mind Poem
3. Wrong Poem
4. Stacy’s Poem
5. My Favourite Flower (read by Daniel James)

CD: ‘Poems and Voices’; Music provider: Music for Change.

A project between detainees at Campsfield House IRC and participants from Restore, a mental health charity.

Sessions at Campsfield House IRC during the project often consisted of detainees taking turns to share songs and dancing from their culture, often from Bangladesh where a large group of the regular participants were from. This track is the result of a jamming session. It uses different forms of percussion (including clapping) and singing.