Meet Ruben, a young carer from Lambeth
In August 2022, young carers from Lambeth Carers Hub took part in a three-day dance project with Create’s professional dancer, Beth Coleman. The project enabled the young carers to take a break from their caring responsibilities, have fun, learn new skills, build relationships and express themselves.
We spoke to young carer Ruben (13) about his experience.
“The project taught me to talk to people.”
Ruben, a young carer
“I have probably been caring since I was eight years old. I care for my dad. He got into an incident a while ago and he’s been needing a bit of help, so I help him out.
“Over the last few days, we’ve been learning dance routines and creating our own moves, doing mini performances. The project was fun and very interactive. It taught me to talk to people. I asked them for their ideas, they asked for my ideas, so I actually got to socialise a lot more than usual.
“I really enjoyed the freedom we had to do what we wanted to do. I learned that you can make dance out of anything, that you can put any ideas into some sort of performance. Working with Beth was great too. She likes cooperating with people.
“I like being creative in my free time, I draw a lot at home. I think it’s important to have the chance to be creative. I hope that more children get to take part in Create projects, especially people that aren’t used to socialising, because the workshops are very interactive.”
inspired:arts Lambeth was funded by The Taylor Family Foundation.
