Supporting migrant and refugee children and young people together through creativity
community:matters is Create’s multi-artform project empowering marginalised young people in the London Borough of Brent. Launched in 2019, the programme is a partnership with three services that support: young people with learning disabilities (Brent Mencap); young migrants and refugees (Salusbury World); and young carers (Brent Gateway Partnership). Between 2016 and 2024, children made up 38% of people coming to the UK on asylum, resettlement, and family reunion routes. In 2025, 3,861 asylum applications were received from unaccompanied children.
Migrant and refugee children in the UK often face severe and compounded challenges, including wrongful detainment, unsuitable accommodation, and extreme mental health distress. They face several barriers including accessing education, navigating language, poverty and long waits for asylum decisions.
Our community:matters programme offer a safe space where these children can relax, explore their creativity and just be children.
We spoke with a staff member from Salusbury World, and two young people, who told us about their time on a Create project.
the reality for migrant and refugee children
In April 2025, Create artist Alisa Ruzavina led jewellery making workshops. The children experimented with beads and weaving, making charms for their bags. Dan, a staff member at Salusbury World spoke about the reality of life for the children they work with:
“All the participants are on free school meals, which is an indicator of relative poverty, so they’re all children who would not necessarily have access to creative workshops without [the Create projects]. It’s so good for the children to be able to access these activities.”
ESCAPING THROUGH making
For many people, especially children, creativity can be an escape from daily stresses. In July 2025, Mikayla and Elijah took part in a ceramics workshop led by Create artist Emily Stapleton-Jefferis.
Elijah shared with us the importance of creative opportunities like these:
“Normally I just lay down on my bed and watch TV. But here, we learned how to make slabs and do coiling.”
It was good to be collaborative and work together as a team.
ELIJAH, COMMUNITY:MATTERS PARTICIPANT
Staff member Dan also noted how engaged the children were during their jewellery making workshops:
“The activity was new to all of them, and they all really focused on it very intently. They produced a lot of stuff in a very short space of time, so I think it activated latent creativity, which is great. They really liked being able to introduce something of their own into the creative process.”
Brightening your days with Creativity
Creativity has the incredible power to uplift your mood, something that Elijah experienced during the project. He shared with us the positive impact creativity had on his life and overall wellbeing:
“Creativity is important because if you just do the same thing every day, then it gets boring and you’re not doing anything fun! There’s not a lot of creative things happening, so this made me very happy.”
Mikayla echoed this sentiment, highlighting the importance of being able to create in a relaxed environment:
“I have done creative things, but this is different because it’s more fun and not strict. You can use your own imagination.”
As a staff member at Salusbury World, Dan has been able to see the positive impact of the Create projects across a number of years:
“These projects are always rewarding and productive, and the children are acquiring skills. We’ve been doing Create workshops for at least seven years; they always get good sign-up and retention!”
building community by creating together
Making art in a group setting is a powerful way to break down barriers and form connections and friendships with others. Staff member Dan experienced this first hand:
Some of them who didn’t know each other have formed beautiful friendships over the course of the workshops.
dan, staff member at salusbury world
At Create, we see the impact of creativity on people’s lives every day. People often arrive at our projects on their own and leave with new friendships, having found common ground with others – whether as carers, young people facing similar challenges, or older adults who understand the isolation that can come in later life. Through shared creative experiences, projects become open spaces for connection, dialogue and lived experience. Participants leave not only with something they’ve made, but with a renewed sense of confidence, belonging and hope.
Thank you to John Lyon’s Charity for funding community:matters.
*Names changed to protect anonymity
