On a corner in Soho Square is a big old building with the words "House of Charity" in the brickwork. The House of St Barnabas was established as a charity in 1846.

Much has since changed, but its charitable heart is still at the foundation. Through a not-for-profit members club with an employment academy at the heart of the business, The House supports people affected by homelessness and social exclusion back into lasting work.

We’re excited to have helped The House curate an upcoming festival of art, creativity and discovery: Art Social. I spoke to Nadra Shah, the Director of Culture, about House of St Barnabas and the upcoming festival.

Nadra, tell us a little about The House. How did a charity end up opening a private member's club?

It’s not an obvious link, but we have this big beautiful house and we needed to maintain an income to enable us to continue our charitable work. We wanted to create a community and not a clique; it is an amazing network for the people we support with some of our mentors coming from our members. It's massively enriching for everyone: you are part of something that is shifting a change in society. What we do in the public space and with our cultural programme is really important. It sets a tone that resonates with the rest of the organisation.

This year’s Art Social is themed around Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs. At the bottom you have the bare essentials of air and water, moving up to self-esteem and belonging. Can you tell me about that? 

Art Social was born out of an idea of community. A festival is a community of people having a shared experience. It's quite magical. I wanted to grow from last year. Employment is our bread and butter, but we want to open that up; we want our participants to be creative in their thoughts and where they aspire to be. The festival allows us to explore that. The Pyramid of Needs felt right: it's what we do with personal development.

What are you most looking forward to?

Seeing a massive teapot in Soho Square! You stumble into it and are invited into The House, following a route into the space and absorbing all that's around. There are workshops and talks and film and the rest of Hester’s installation. There is an amazing amount of great stuff to do and get involved in. I'm really looking forward to the Pyramid’s Playlist Silent Disco: it's going to be great.

Art Social 2015 is on 25th-26th September at The House of St Barnabas. Benugo will be putting on a special menu for the weekend and Oh Comely will be popping in to run a few workshops too. Day tickets and weekend tickets are available here.

This is a sponsored post: Oh Comely is proud to collaborate with The House of St Barnabas.