2019-11-01 In The Moment

Words: Caroline Rowland

A compact city dwelling provides a haven for author,

speaker and activist Sarah Corbett

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MY SANCTUARY

I

t’s often thought that as we progress in life, we

need to upgrade our homes – moving to bigger

properties, having more rooms and so forth –

but for ‘craftivist’ Sarah Corbett, her small

studio apartment in East London is all she

needs and she has no desire to upsize.

The open plan space consists of a living area

and a small kitchen, with a mezzanine level where

she sleeps, with the bathroom off the sleeping area.

“I love that I can see everything in my space,” Sarah

explains. “I have quite an active imagination, so if

I lived in a bigger home, I’d always be worrying that

there was a murderer in the next room!” She even has

a convex mirror attached to a radiator on the lower

level so she can look down from the mezzanine, see

the whole downstairs and know there is no one there.

Sarah is an introvert and admits she has always

wanted to live alone. Moving from her family home

in Liverpool to London 11 years ago, she settled in the

east of the city, and two years ago found her current

home in a building which was once the local library.

Despite the small size, the high ceilings provide

a spacious feel, with large windows flooding the room

with light. The apartments are situated on a main

road and though most might want to avoid the hum

of traffic, Sarah says she actually prefers this as the

noise makes her feel safer.

In her line of work, Sarah has discovered that

having a haven at home is essential. In 200 9, she set

up the Craftivist Collective (craftivist-collective.com)

with the aim of creating an inclusive group of people

who were committed to using craft as a means to

make positive change in the world.

Sarah has been involved in activism all her life.

Growing up in a low-income area of Liverpool, her

parents (dad – a vicar, and mum – a politician) were

always campaigning, both for local causes and global

issues such as apartheid in South Africa. At school

and university she continued on this path, which

inevitably led her to a career working with charities

and organisations such as Oxfam and the Department

for International Development.

But, as time went by, Sarah found that as most

activism is very extrovert, her introverted personality