YOUNG CARERS TAKE CENTRE STAGE AT CHELSEA ARTS FESTIVAL WITH CREATE
Young carers supported by Create took to the stage at Chelsea Arts Festival 2026 this September, performing original music they had created together over the summer.
As the official charity partner of Chelsea Arts Festival 2026, Create joined artists, writers, performers and thinkers for a celebration of creativity across Chelsea.
For us, the partnership was also an opportunity to put our belief that People Need To Create into action.
YOUNG CARERS CREATE AND PERFORM ORIGINAL MUSIC
During August, young carers from Lambeth and Wandsworth came together through inspired:arts, Create’s programme for young carers.
Led by Create musicians Joe and Lydia, the group took part in three workshops exploring percussion, songwriting and themes of friendship and belonging.
Along the way, the young people highlighted “learning new instruments”, “writing songs about who I am” and “making new friends” among their favourite parts of the project.
One young carer, Samuel, shared:
“I really loved making the music with everyone, improvising all the words, the lyrics. It was just so fun. I learnt that you can freestyle whatever lyrics you want.
I’ve met a few new people and it feels like I’ve had a chance to connect. [Being creative] felt nice and very different to what I’m used to.“
[Projects like these] help young carers open up and meet new people.
Samuel, Young Carer
On Saturday 19 September, they brought their work to the heart of Chelsea, performing live as part of the festival programme.
For young carers, who can have significant responsibilities at home, Create’s projects provide dedicated time to focus on themselves, explore their creativity and build relationships with others who understand some of their experiences.
The Chelsea Arts Festival performances gave the group an opportunity to go one step further: sharing what they had created with a public audience and celebrating their achievements together.
On the day of the performance, one parent shared:
“The fact that [my daughter] was able to join [a project] like this, I think it’s gonna skyrocket her confidence. It already has. It’s enabled her to integrate with other people. And I believe it’s given her a little more purpose and exposed her to things that might spark a creative idea in her mind as to what else she might want to do [in the future].”
CHAMPIONING CREATIVITY AND WELLBEING
Create’s involvement in Chelsea Arts Festival also provided an opportunity to champion why access to creativity matters.
On Friday 18 September, our Founding Chief Executive Nicky Goulder MBE introduced a conversation between Professor Daisy Fancourt and writer Emma Gannon at Saatchi Gallery.
Their discussion explored themes at the heart of Create’s work: creativity, health and wellbeing, and the importance of making space for creativity in our lives.
Reflecting on the partnership, Nicky said:
“We believe that access to creativity is a fundamental right, not a privilege. Being part of Chelsea Arts Festival has enabled us not only to talk about why creativity matters, but to give young people we work with an opportunity to create, perform and have their work celebrated.”
CREATING OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH PARTNERSHIP
Since 2003, Create has worked to ensure that people who face barriers to the arts have opportunities to experience the educational, social and wellbeing benefits of creativity.
Partnerships like this help us take that message to new audiences, while creating meaningful opportunities for our participants.
Seeing young carers take their own music from an August workshop to a public stage in Sloane Square was a fitting celebration of exactly why that matters.
People Need To Create.
With thanks to Chelsea Arts Festival for your partnership and National Lottery Community Fund for funding these projects.
