Portal Project is a participatory arts and wellbeing initiative co-led by artists Lizzy Drury and Amanda Camenisch, developed with and for people affected by homelessness. The project began in March 2024 as a small weekly art club at The Swiss Church in London, emerging from Breakfast on the Steps, a long-running community meal for those experiencing homelessness and social isolation. 

What started as small creative weekly gatherings has since evolved into a sustained collaborative art collective. Portal Project runs two weekly open-access workshops at The Swiss Church and The St Paul’s Church in Covent Garden. Each session offers space, materials, and mentoring for participants to explore their creativity, develop new skills, and build confidence in a supportive, trauma-informed environment. The workshops operate as a consistent anchor for people navigating instability, a place of safety, connection and creative renewal.

Through this process, Portal Project co-creates public artworks, exhibitions, and events that bring lived experience into the public sphere. The project provides both visibility and voice for people too often excluded from cultural conversations, reframing participants as artists, collaborators and contributors to London’s creative landscape.

As part of its long-term vision, Portal Project creates inclusive artistic programmes, partnerships, and public outcomes into 2026 and beyond. We aim to build lasting bridges between communities, institutions, and the arts, proving that creativity can be a form of care and social connection.