CREATE AND ASHURST WIN PRESTIGIOUS LEGAL CSR AWARD
A volunteer and participant on the creative:engagement project
I’m delighted that our Ashurst / Create partnership has won the Legal Week CSR Innovation (Collaboration) Award.
Recognising “exceptional achievement and best practice”, this award acknowledges the innovative, collaborative approach taken to reducing isolation and building confidence among older people through the creative arts.
The award-winning project, creative:engagement, focuses on older people with dementia and mental ill-health. Bringing older people together from two different organisations, it provides them with the opportunity to explore their creativity through creative projects led by our professional artists. It also promotes social interaction amongst participants, the staff who care for them and Ashurst volunteers, reducing feelings of loneliness and isolation and increasing feelings of self-worth, confidence and wellbeing.
The award win was announced at a virtual ceremony
We’ve worked with Ashurst since 2015, with our creative:engagement workshops usually (pre-lockdown) hosted at Ashurst’s London office. Over the years we’ve seen the project go from strength to strength, and both participants and volunteers have felt their confidence, creative skills, social interaction and teamwork strengthened. Seeing friendships flourish across the generations is one of the project’s greatest strengths.
One of the participants said:
“When you get to Ashurst you get a massive welcome, it’s so big and posh but they have the time and they stop for us. The artists get it right, how they explain things, the approach, the attention. The end product doesn’t matter, it is something you take home, but the process, the experience is always there.”
During the lockdown, we’ve been continuing the project over the phone, connecting isolated older people and Ashurst volunteers with our professional musician for music, singing and fun. As lockdown has meant many of our participants are shielding and have been unable to see family and friends, bringing them together through creativity has never been more important:
“The workshop has woken me up. I was beginning to get tired with nothing to do, no one to talk to. […] I really enjoyed it today, I’ll sleep tonight!”
We’re delighted that this important work – and our ongoing partnership with Ashurst – has been recognised with the prestigious award.
Abi, who is 15, has been a carer her whole life: she looks after her older brother, eight-year-old sister and supports her mum, a single parent. Abi has taken part in our workshops via her local young carer service since she was seven. They give her a rare opportunity to take some time out for herself and have unlocked a life-long love of creativity.
Watch this short film Abi made about her life
Being a young carer
I look after my brother Johnny who has autism and learning disabilities. I also look after my mum, who gets very stressed, and my little sister, who can get very scared when my brother is getting angry or being loud.
Because Johnny has autism, if there’s a small change in our life he can get very angry and very irritated. Johnny is older than me, so I’ve been caring my whole life. I couldn’t really help out when I was a toddler, but it has been something I’ve always had to live with and deal with.
Most of my caring is offering emotional support, just being there and calming everyone down. With Johnny it’s also taking him to see buses, because he loves buses and it helps him to be happy. Because Johnny gets so excited when he sees buses, going out with him also means explaining to some members of the public why he can get a bit loud and jumpy.
“Being a young carer is a blessing and a curse. I’m proud of the caring role that I have and that I’m able to help.”
Young carer Abi
Johnny gets called a lot of names in public. People get angry at him if he’s being too loud or he’s not being considerate to other people, which he can’t help. I do a lot of sticking up for Johnny but some people are not very nice and laugh at him.
My mum gets very stressed, especially with housing and money issues. I try to speak to her and calm her down if she gets angry. I go shopping for her for bread, milk and those things that we need quite often.
Abi starred in this short film we made with Media Trust
Being a young carer is a blessing and a curse. I’m proud of the caring role that I have and that I’m able to help. At the same time, caring responsibilities prevent me from doing stuff most people my age would do, and I miss out on a lot of opportunities. To be able to care for someone, to be able to look after someone, it’s a big responsibility and it’s something to be very proud of.
You have to grow up very fast as a young carer and almost be an adult as a kid. You mature fast when you’re looking after someone else.
One of Abi’s artworks
I get quite a lot of schoolwork, especially because I’m near GCSE time now. I often get up at 4am or 5am, so I can fit it some homework and have enough time in the day to look after Johnny. I don’t get much sleep because I go to bed late and get up early to fit in as much work as I can. It’s very tiring.
When I do get free time, I like to make short films with my sister. We go through loads of different music to try and get inspired and create a short film from what we come up with. Looking after someone can be a really difficult and stressful task so in my free time I like doing things that calm me down.
Being creative with create
Abi taking part in a Create project
I did a film project with Create, and that’s what started my love for making short films. We made a range of short films, using different filming methods and different gadgets. The artist also introduced us to editing software, which is the one I use now.
“Without creativity I wouldn’t be the same person I am today.”
Young carer Abi
I’ve been taking part in Create workshops for around eight years now. I’ve done lots of artforms: animation, film making, scriptwriting, jewellery making, painting, music and so many more.
I’ve learnt a lot through Create workshops and working with professional artists. I’ve also learnt skills by experimenting on my own, having a lot of failed attempts and then finally creating something good.
Getting to meet other kids who are in the same situation as I am is very different from being at school with people my age who don’t understand the caring role as much. All of us understand how much these workshops mean to us. I think that is something we share, so it’s like a big family because we’re all in the same situation in life.
Create has also helped me with my caring role. You need a break from something in order to do your best and be in a positive mindset. Create gives me a break and allows me to see the positives in my caring role and the positives in life. The workshops give you a couple of hours not to have the stress of caring and just be a kid again.
Without creativity I wouldn’t be the same person I am today. I definitely wouldn’t be as happy as I am. It’s something to fall back on when I’m sad or not in the best mood. It’s something that will always be there and that no one can take away.
Being able to unlock the creative side of your brain is very therapeutic. For me, all artforms are therapeutic; it’s a way to release your emotions and energy that you have built up.
Being creative makes me feel really accomplished, proud and happy. It also lets me dream.
Abi was the subject of our BBC Radio 4 appeal, presented by Isy Suttie, which was broadcast on Sunday 20 and Thursday 24 September 2020. You can listen to the appeal here.
Can poetry help to reduce isolation? In June and July 2020 as part of our art:links programme funded by London Freemasons and The Mercers’ Company, we ran a series of eight creative writing workshops with older people who attend Age UK Havering, Barking and Redbridge. These enabled participants to have fun, build skills, make friends and reduce isolation – and together they produced a moving collection of poetry. We have now compiled this into a book.
The workshops were delivered via Create Live!, our online, interactive project initiative developed to reach participants during the lockdown and beyond.
“You can choose to be bored or choose to be creative.”
Kara
Can writing poetry help reduce feelings of isolation? Through this creative writing project with our poet Simon Mole, older adults explored a variety of writing techniques and drew on their own memories, experiences and personal objects for creative inspiration. The project enabled them to come together and develop their creative writing skills and self-expression collaboratively, at a time of increased isolation and hardship.
The poems written have been brought together in a book full of profound, funny and lyrical work.
We also had a chance to talk to Kara about how the project introduced her to something new and taught her not to limit herself:
I have not seen my grandchildren for five months. My son was worried about us because we are vulnerable, because of our age and medical conditions. It became too stressful trying to keep that distance. A four-and-a-half-year-old and a two-and-a-half-year-old wouldn’t understand that.
At least I know now there are lots of projects around! You don’t have to feel isolated. You just have to make the choice of engaging with other people. Boredom is what you create for yourself and you can choose. You can choose to be bored or choose to be creative.
We have been creating poetry. I have not done any creative poetry before. I have enjoyed it very much. I am surprised [by my poetry]. The only literature I did in school was reciting. It was painful, all the reciting, and it didn’t mean anything to me.
Being creative has actually made me put my thinking cap on, to think: what can I write, what can I make beautiful, what can I expand on? I know Simon says you don’t have to rhyme, but suddenly I’m thinking about rhyming and changing my words around. And I think I’ll just do it for the workshop but then I go back to my notebook and I start scribbling and making some changes. Instead of just doing it because I have to, I’m challenging myself. Can I improve it, can I make it fun? Writing so that there’s a bit of humour and laughter in what I write.
Follow Create on Twitter and Instagram to see more creative work from our projects.
The Award is given to the charity that the judges believe has delivered “outstanding service to its beneficiaries, promoted and raised its cause, been clear in its goals and strategy and demonstrated excellence, especially within the last year”. Having been shortlisted for this award four times previously, we are thrilled to have been recognised with this highest of accolades: “delivering an extremely high-quality submission, this charity impressed the judges with a clear, focused, and robust entry, which demonstrated the huge impact a small charity can have on a lot of people.”
This is the most wonderful recognition of the passion, commitment, drive and energy of everyone who is involved in Create: our team, our professional artists, our Trustees, our volunteers, our funding and community partners and – above all – our participants.
“Create has demonstrated the huge impact a small charity can have on a lot of people.”
Charity Times Judges
During a year when we have all had to find new ways of working and our team has worked tirelessly to design, pilot and launch Create Live! to enable us to continue empowering, upskilling, connecting and enhancing the wellbeing of our participants during lockdown, this award means so much to all of us.
Being crowned Charity of the Year has provided us all with a huge boost at a time when such fantastic recognition of our work has never been more welcome. I am hugely proud of the whole Create team and deeply appreciative of all who help to make our work possible. Above all, I am thankful to the incredible children and adults who we work with, who inspire and motivate me every day.
Receiving this award is invaluable in helping us to raise awareness of the issues faced by our participants and to demonstrate the quality and impact of the work we do as the UK’s leading charity empowering lives, reducing isolation and enhancing wellbeing through the creative arts. Our work has never been more important and the timing of the award could not have been more perfect.
Nicky Goulder, Founding Chief Executive
Create was awarded the Charity Times Charity of the Year: with an income of less than £1 million on 3 September 2020.
Can photography improve mental health? In February 2020 we interviewed Colin about how working with Create has unlocked a passion for photography and positively impacted his mental health.
Before the pandemic, Colin was attending a Create photography project developed in collaboration with Mind in Tower Hamlets and Newham and funded by Reed Smith. Since the lockdown, Colin has participated in our Create Live! online interactive project initiative, offering a creative lifeline to the most vulnerable children and adults in isolation.
Six months on, we’ve caught up with Colin about how photography helped him cope during the lockdown and how he’s been using the skills he developed with Create to help others.
“When the lockdown started, I was really bored. It forced me to be creative indoors and look for stuff around the house to take pictures of.”
Colin
“Lockdown has forced me to be creative at home and to come up with new ideas and think of things to do. I’ve got asthma so I’ve got to be really careful about this virus.
“If I’ve got to go out, I wear my mask and I can breathe for about 20 minutes in it. I go to my local shop and just come straight back. I do miss going out, to places just for myself like the comic shops in the West End, but that’s not an option at the minute. Photography and running workshops is giving me something to do at home.
“When the lockdown started, I was really bored. I couldn’t find anything to do and I was desperate to do something. It forced me to be creative indoors and look for stuff around the house to take pictures of. We’ve got some lights for the patio and I did a lot of light-painting photographs.
Some of Colin’s photographs
“After the Create Live! photography project ended, someone from Mind phoned me and asked me if I wanted to run some workshops of my own. They said someone had recommended me.
“I was hesitant at first because I get nervous when people want sudden things to happen. I spent some time thinking about it and I managed to think up three ideas for sessions the next day, so I thought ‘I’ll do it’.
“One or two of the participants were from the Create groups but a few are from other groups that just know me, and they wanted to give photography a try.
“A couple of the participants have never tried photography before. They don’t go out that much. We had a woman who was really nervous, and she didn’t know how to do WeTransfer [a way of sharing photographs via a digital link]. I want to be as accommodating as possible so I encouraged her just to hold her phone close to the screen so that everyone could see her photography and she could participate. I try to make it as easy for everyone as possible.
“Photography gives me an outlet to express myself, which I’ve found useful during lockdown. I enjoy running a photography group. It feels rewarding to be helping other people like myself by giving them something they can participate in and hopefully have fun.”
Follow Colin on Twitter and Instagram to see more of his photography.
Follow Create on Twitter and Instagram to see more creative work from our projects.
Between June and July 2020, Create ran a photography project via Create Live! with adult carers from Harrow and Lewisham as part of creative:voices, a project designed to help adult carers relieve stress and explore their creativity.
Create Live! is Create’s online, interactive project initiative developed to reach participants during the lockdown.
Ajay (60+) cares for a family member with a physical disability and attends Carers Lewisham. He told us about his experiences taking part in the photography workshops.
“Lockdown has been really, really difficult.”
Ajay
“I’ve been caring for different members of my family for forever, it seems to me. For my mum and dad. My brother Matt who had cancer, and he died a few years ago.
“And now Leroy, who has lost his right leg and is in a wheelchair. I’ve been looking after his wellbeing and making sure he’s okay, making sure his personal needs are met. It’s really about paying attention to him all the time, so he’s not being neglected.
“Lockdown has been really, really difficult. Because I’ve not been able to go out really. It’s been a lonely experience being alone in the house, stuck with my thoughts a lot of the time and also concerned about my brother.
“It has affected my mind as well, I think. Because I’m not sleeping as well as I want to.
“I took on the photography project because I wanted a distraction. Something to help me reconnect with me.
“It’s important to have those activities which help you to think in a different way and open up new possibilities of thought for you. When your mentality is in a particular cycle and you’re stuck on a treadmill, it is a downwards spiral in the end. I think the photography is helping me with that because it’s giving me something else to focus on. So, it’s helping my mental wellbeing.
“For me, the photography workshop was about exploring light and form and shapes and just thinking about composition.
“I’m more creative than I had given myself credit for in the past.”
Ajay
“I’ve enjoyed the whole process and I’m excited every time I come on [to the call]. I’m looking forward to it every Friday. I’ve always loved photography, but I’ve never really done it fully. [Since taking part in the workshops] I’ve bought myself a Lumix camera.
“I’ve learnt that I can be more imaginative and more creative with myself. The project is helping me to deal with all the stuff I’m dealing with. I’m not just focused on my issues, in terms of my caring role. It’s also given me a bit of space for myself and I’ve learnt that I value that space to just be who I am. Recapture something of who I am, and not just be thinking always about my brother who I care for. It’s hard for me to do that. It has also made me realise that I’m more creative than I had given myself credit for in the past, so that has been a good experience as well.
“I feel really positive about my processes. In terms of thinking things through and trying to be original, because I like humour in my photographs. Seeing other people’s work is also encouraging because you’re seeing how different people view the same idea and create something unique to them. It’s fascinating to watch and really inspiring as well.”
Follow Create on Instagram or Twitter for the latest blogs, participant work and news.
Jonny Breeze: charities like Create need our support more than ever
Jonny Breeze is a member of our Development Council. Here, he shares his amazing story of a tough running challenge – the #CRE8IN8. In just six weeks, he designed it, recruited runners for it, ran it, and raised funds through it.
What a strange year this has been. I work in recruitment, so you can imagine how difficult the past six months have been for me and my clients.
The pandemic has affected every sector, and charities are no exception. Many have suffered a huge blow to their incomes.
In my role on Create’s Development Council, which supports the CEO and fundraising team to raise vital funds, I’ve been aware of how social distancing and the cancellation of events has taken a financial toll on a charity that I admire and love. This loss of income means that Create’s crucial work empowering the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people through the creative arts is under threat.
I had two options: sit back and let it happen, or get moving. I chose the latter.
THE #CRE8IN8
I love running, and along with seven friends I set up a movement a few years ago called The W8ful Eight.
Our premise is simple. We believe that everyone should be able to enjoy whatever food and drink they like while staying in shape – and we motivate our community to do just that by taking on a variety of fitness challenges. The aim isn’t to look like a Greek god, but to live life to the full. Like life, the number 8 is all about balance. Two circles carefully poised on top of one another. Power vs Responsibility. Work vs Life. Diet vs Exercise. Health vs Enjoyment.
So, with very short notice, we decided to set up a running challenge to support Create in these difficult times. The result was #CRE8IN8.
Runners were asked to run either 8k or 8 half-marathons on 8 consecutive days, from 1-8 August, and get their friends, family and colleagues to sponsor them. Quite the challenge, even for those of us who run regularly.
A GLOBAL CHALLENGE
We were so pleased with the response. In a really short space of time we managed to sign up 34 runners from 14 different countries, including the US, South Africa, Canada, India, South Korea, Romania, Brazil … and even Trinidad and Tobago. This was a truly global event!
The runners worked hard for every pound they raised, sticking with the challenge through all their aches and pains. Only one runner, from Portugal, got injured early on, but her friends rallied round, and they took it in turns to run each day so she could make it to the end – all the while raising money for Create.
Another runner from the UK was using this as a continuation of the weight loss they had achieved during the lockdown period; others, including two women from Seattle who ran eight half-marathons together over the eight days, were looking for a motivating challenge to take on during the pandemic. There were so many human success stories for such a great and inspirational charity.
As I write this, we have raised over £13,000 including Gift Aid, which is incredible in such a short space of time. All of this money will go to supporting Create’s projects at a time when Create’s participant groups need them the most.
After this success, our plan is to make the #CRE8IN8 an annual event, and grow it so the challenge is even bigger and better next year. More runners, more donations, more lives empowered through the creative arts.
YOUNG CARERS REIMAGINE ITV LOGO TO TELL THEIR STORIES
We’re really excited that an ITV ident created by young carers from Hillingdon, Kingston and Lambeth under the guidance of our Create artist Amy Leung is airing on the channel for seven days from today – Monday 10 August 2020.
The ident – a short sequence shown between programmes to identify the channel – is running as part of the ITV Creates 2020 series. The series brings community groups together to reinterpret the ITV logo in fresh and personal ways.
We pitched for the opportunity to deliver this project with ITV, and worked with Amy and the young carers to deliver it. They came together for a workshop day before going to the ITV studio in March of this year to create the artwork.
Create artist Amy Leung, who ran our ITV Creates project
‘THE DAY REALLY INSPIRED ME’
The young carers worked with Amy to create an ident that reflected the importance of collaboration, creativity and wellbeing. They used the individual letters – I, T and V – to explore their identities, their hobbies and interests, and the people and places that they love.
They drew pictures and wrote messages that they stuck to large cardboard blocks, which were then put together to build the three letters. As a result, the ITV logo became a wonderful symbol of their personalities.
One of the young carers who took part in the project said: “The day really inspired me because you got to draw, to paint, to be with other people and not just by yourself. Everyone helped each other and made new friends. I’ve learnt that I can be really creative if I set my mind to it. If you’re not creative, it can be really boring because you don’t have anything to do. Doing creative projects with Create shows you that you’re not the only carer and that there are other people caring for their parents.”
THE CHALLENGE OF CARING
The artwork from our ITV Creates project
There are an estimated 800,000 young carers in the UK. A young carer is someone under 18 who helps look after a family member – or friend – who is ill, disabled, has a mental health condition or misuses drugs or alcohol.
The coronavirus pandemic has hit young carers hard: 40% say that their mental health has deteriorated during the pandemic, while 69% are feeling more isolated. Almost 8% of young carers are now spending more than 90 hours a week caring for a family member or friend.
Our Founding Chief Executive Nicky Goulder said: “As the UK’s leading charity using the creative arts to empower the lives and enhance the wellbeing of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children and adults, we are delighted to have worked in partnership with ITV on this incredible project.
“We hope that our ident, created with some of the 800,000 young carers in the UK, will help to raise awareness of the challenges they face and the importance of the creative arts for skill building, connectivity and wellbeing. Their stunning ident enabled them to explore who they are, build new relationships with their peers, and grow in confidence and self-esteem. We’re delighted that our partnership with ITV has given these selfless young people an opportunity for self-expression. Hearing their voice, loud and clear, on national TV pays tribute to young carers’ incredible contribution to our society.”
In March 2020, we worked with our professional visual artist, Amy Leung, and young carers from Hillingdon, Kingston and Lambeth to create a new ITV ident. The ident ran on the channel from 10 – 16 August.
Abebi (10) is one of the young carers who took part in our ITV Creates project. Here, she tells us about her experience.
“It was like no other experience; you couldn’t do anything like that in a normal art class.”
Young Carer Abebi
“Me and my younger sister care for our mum who has trouble walking and taking her medication. I started helping out giving mum her medication and doing jobs around the house when I was six years old.
“Being creative with other people was really fun. I don’t really get the chance to do extra activities at school, so it is fun doing art. You make new friends and we all helped each other with the artwork and talked about it. Doing creative projects with Create shows you that you’re not the only carer and that there are other people caring for their parents. It’s very good when you come together and combine your ideas with everyone else.
“We were making an ident. It’s what they put in the corner of the TV screen when they’re showing adverts. We were using colourful boxes to create the sculpture in the ITV shape, making art and sticking that to the boxes.
The artwork from our ITV Creates project
“I really like Harry Potter, so I put Gryffindor colours all around the things I drew. And then I drew over the picture myself and stuck it onto a small canvas. It was messy because I got paint all over my hands, but my drawing was really neat. I liked sticking up my artwork. I really liked the work I did. It was really fun. It was like no other experience; you couldn’t do anything like that in a normal art class. The day really inspired me because you got to draw, to paint, to be with other people and not just by yourself. Everyone helped each other and made new friends.
“At first it was a bit weird being in the ITV studio, but you get used to everything around you like the lights and the cameras. Then it felt normal. Amy is really nice and a very kind person. I think anyone would want to be friends with her. I’ve learnt that I can be really creative if I set my mind to it. If you’re not creative, it can be really boring because you don’t have anything to do.
“The project made me be more creative. If there’s not much to do I’m really, really creative and I make good pieces of art.”
See the final ident, and read more about the project, here.
We’re delighted to have been shortlisted for the prestigious Charity Times Charity of the Year Award (in our category).
The awards recognise, celebrate and promote best practice and this is the fifth time in eight years that we’ve been shortlisted for this accolade. The winner will be announced at a virtual award ceremony on 3 September 2020.
This is the most wonderful recognition of the passion, commitment, drive and energy of everyone who is involved in Create: our staff, our professional artists, our Trustees, our volunteers, our funding and community partners and – above all – our participants.
Our impact
We have just published our Impact Report for the year that the awards assess and are proud to have empowered, upskilled and enhanced the wellbeing of 1,388 of the most isolated and vulnerable children and adults across the UK. Fifty-seven of our professional artists delivered 53 projects around the country, taking the joy, stimulation and connectivity of the creative arts into schools, communities, prisons, day care centres and children’s hospitals. Our projects were rated “successful overall” by 99% of our partner organisation staff.
“I AM HUGELY PROUD OF THE WHOLE CREATE TEAM AND DEEPLY APPRECIATIVE OF ALL WHO HELP TO MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.”
Nicky Goulder
Since lockdown, we have all had to find new ways of working and our team worked around the clock to design, pilot and launch Create Live! within two weeks. This new project concept using an online platform is enabling us to deliver high quality, live, interactive, collaborative, creative workshops with groups of participants in the safety of their homes that are fun, build skills and reduce isolation.
Being shortlisted for this award has provided us all with a huge boost at the time when such fantastic recognition of our work has never been more welcome. I am hugely proud of the whole Create team and deeply appreciative of all who help to make our work possible.
Above all, I am thankful to the incredible children and adults that we work with, who inspire and motivate me every day.
Nicky Goulder, Founding Chief Executive
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