Participant Group: Disabled children and adults

SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLCHILDREN IN HARROW UNITE FOR INSPIRING MUSIC SHOWCASE

environment matters harrow SEND showcase

SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLCHILDREN IN HARROW UNITE FOR INSPIRING MUSIC SHOWCASE

environment matters harrow SEND showcase
SEND environment:matters participants perform a song they composed about the environment

On Wednesday 21 September, our environment:matters project in Harrow culminated in an inspiring musical showcase at Harrow Arts Centre.

Children from three special schools performed original pieces of music, composed and written alongside Create’s professional musicians during a project funded by The Atherton Family Charitable Trust.

environment:matters is our project providing SEND children in London and Manchester with access to high-quality, collaborative creative arts workshops exploring the theme of “the environment”. The project uses music and other artforms to help participants understand the climate crisis, how their own actions might affect the environment, and how they can help bring about change.

“i LEARNT THAT WE SHOULD RECYCLE!”

PARTICIPANT

the power of music

This latest strand of the project took place in Harrow, with students from Alexandra School, Shaftesbury High School and Woodlands School teaming up with professional musicians Paul Griffiths, Mike Poyser and Filipe Sousa. Under expert guidance, the children wrote original songs about the environment, which they performed in a showcase at Harrow Arts Centre.

Simon Lewis, Performing Arts Lead at Shaftesbury High School, shares why creativity for children with SEN is so important.

One participant (12) from Shaftesbury High School, said: “The project made me feel happy. I enjoyed the instruments, and that everyone was in beat with the music. The environmental theme was amazing. I learnt that we should not be using plastic, and that we should recycle.” 

Another participant from Alexandra School enjoyed the environmental theme too, and said: “We sang about swimming in the sea. I love the ocean. Paul [Griffiths] is such a good music maker and singer. I liked writing music. Singing makes me a little bit nervous but I feel happy!”

environment matters harrow SEND showcase
Create artist Paul Griffiths performing with environment:matters participants in Harrow

Many proud parents attended the final showcase, eager to see what their children had created. One mother said: “My daughter is taking part in the Create project today and I’m excited to see her perform. She loves being creative, she loves art, she loves music. Creativity helps her to imagine and it takes her to a different world, away from the pressure.”

Why is this project important?

The climate emergency affects us all, and everyone deserves to have a voice on this important topic. environment:matters ensures that SEND young people can learn about and discuss environmental issues, expressing their opinions through the creative arts.

2020 UNHCR General Assembly concluded that “Economically, institutionally and socially marginalised people are less resilient in the face of the adverse effects of climate change. This particularly applies to an estimated one billion persons with disabilities worldwide. They often have the least capacity to adapt to climate change, while being virtually ignored in preparation and response measures.”

SEND environment:matters participants perform a song they composed about the environment

Simon Lewis, Performing Arts Teacher at Shaftesbury High School, said: “It’s really important to inform and empower young people with special educational needs about the real issues they face as human beings in today’s world. This project has got all of our students, regardless of their levels or abilities, to think more consciously about the decisions they make and the footprint they leave.”

“This project has made our students think more consciously about the footprint they leave.”

simon lewis, community Partner

Nicky Goulder, Create Founding CEO, said: “It has been incredible to watch our inspiring participants go from strength to strength during this environment:matters project in Harrow. They have made great strides in their musical skill, confidence and awareness of environmental issues. Most importantly, though, the beaming smiles on their faces say it all. A huge congratulations to our amazing participants for putting on a spectacular show. And thank you to The Atherton Family Charitable Trust for making this vital project possible.”

SEND environment matters performance harrow

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Brent special schools showcase environment themed artwork

The showcase in Brent for our environment matters project

brent special schools showcase environment themed artwork

On 24 June 2022 our environment:matters project came to a close with an exciting showcase at Willesden Green Library.

Throughout May and June, Create artists worked with children who have special educational needs and disabilities at the five special schools in the London Borough of Brent. Together they explored the theme of the environment through a series of creative arts workshops.

The children then shared the vibrant artwork and music they had made at the showcase, which took place in the performance space at Willesden Green Library, in front of an audience of fellow students, school staff, invited guests and the Create team.

why this project exists

environment:matters was designed to enable SEND schoolchildren to engage with and explore the environment and our impact on it. Through high-quality creative arts workshops with Create’s professional artists, the project takes an inclusive approach to understanding the issues our planet faces, at a community level.

Only 4% of UK students feel they know a lot about climate change (SOS-UK, 2018). Furthermore, a 2020 UNHCR General Assembly concluded that “Economically, institutionally and socially marginalised people are less resilient in the face of the adverse effects of climate change. This particularly applies to an estimated one billion persons with disabilities worldwide. They often have the least capacity to adapt to climate change, while being virtually ignored in preparation and response measures.”

It is the most marginalised members of our society who are most affected by environmental issues, yet they are often left out of the conversation.

“A HUGE BOOST FOR THEIR SELF-ESTEEM”

The Rise Trust Partnership, which oversees Manor School and The Avenue School, said: “Working with Create on this project has been fantastic. It has given our students the chance to explore the environment and their appreciation of the world around them, through creative means. The children were able to learn from professional artists first-hand, and create an array of imaginative pieces from colourful seed bombs to bird feeders and butterfly sculptures. Being able to create something of their own from start to finish, and then display it at the showcase, is a huge boost for their self-esteem. Seeing how engaged and dedicated they were throughout was incredibly touching and a stark reminder of what the creative arts can do for our wellbeing.”

Nicky Goulder, CEO of Create, said: “This has been an inspirational project from start to finish. Seeing the children come together to explore environmental issues and create such incredible artwork has been a joy. Projects like this are vital for ensuring that everyone gets the chance to explore their creativity, as well as the issues facing our planet. We believe that everyone should be given a voice and this project had demonstrated so powerfully the importance and value of that. Huge congratulations to all the students for their amazing work!”

You can learn more about environment:matters here, and you can read more on our environmental commitment here.

FUNDING

This project is supported by John Lyon’s Charity.

john lyons logo

Breaking down barriers with superhero songs

creative connection Manchester 2021

Breaking down barriers with superhero songs

creative connection Manchester 2021

During October we worked with four schools in Manchester and Salford, bringing together disabled and non-disabled children to make music. The project, creative:connection, gave students a chance to be creative and to build connections, breaking down barriers and prejudices around disability.

The four schools – Grange School and Loreto High School in Manchester, and Chatsworth High School and New Park Academy in Salford – were paired up and created music together on the theme of “modern day superheroes”.

The project culminated in a dynamic concert at Manchester Central Library on 22 October. The performance formed part of Manchester Literature Festival and was attended by pupils from the four schools, teachers, parents and guardians, Create staff, members of the public and festival, and other special guests.

“A real bond was struck as we developed the music.”

Create musician Mike Poyser
creative connection Manchester 2021

AN AMAZING WEEK OF MUSIC MAKING

Create musician Mike Poyser, who worked on the project and hosted the final performance, said: “It was a truly amazing week of music-making. The workshops saw two schools getting used to working together to make music with me, while Matt Dunn the other facilitator worked with the other two schools. 

“As the week went on, the music organically materialised using sound samples of poetry and their own voices alongside the children becoming more and more comfortable in each other’s company. A real bond was struck as we developed the music.

“The performance day is a complex beast trying to bring all four schools together for the first time and rehearsing all the music one last time before the show. The children really got stuck in and concentrated really hard to ensure the show went well. And it really did go well!! Forty-five minutes of brand new music was performed and lots of fun was had by all!”

MEET LIAM

creative connection Manchester 2021

Liam (13), a student from Chatsworth High School, took part in the project. We spoke to him on the day before the final performance. “I’m really proud to be part of this project,” he said. “The song we’ve created is absolutely phenomenal to be honest. It feels like we’ve created The Beatles or something.

“I haven’t had the joy of making music since I was five or six years old. Ever since the pandemic I’ve been wanting to meet new people but I’ve not had the chance because we had to stay inside, which was probably the worst thing ever.

“It’s nerve-wracking [working with the New Park students] to say the least. I get stage fright and I also get an awkwardness when I meet new people, so getting to meet an entire new school … ! I feel a lot calmer now, I’m just nervous about the performance tomorrow. I’m going to need to conquer my fear, which is going to be really hard.

“Just driving to Manchester is going to be frightening. I might end up crying afterwards [with relief]. My dad would be proud if he was still alive.” 

creative connection Manchester 2021

creative:connection Manchester was funded by The Ashley Family Foundation, The Michael Tippett Musical Foundation and The Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust. In-kind support was provided by Manchester Central Library and Manchester Literature Festival.

SEN students create “fabulous” art about the environment

SEN students changing minds 2021

SEN students create “fabulous” art about the environment

SEN students changing minds 2021

Between January and March 2021, we delivered 60 workshops with children with special educational needs (SEN) in Harrow through our three-year changing:minds project, which is enabling children to explore environmental themes creatively.

The project, which started in 2019, uses art, dance, music and theatre to explore the environment with students at all five SEN schools/units in Harrow. Last year, the project examined underwater worlds. This year, the children learned about the earth’s rich diversity of natural environments and the animals that call them home. Next year, the project is set to wrap up with an exploration of the sky. 

“Beautiful art, fabulous art and fabulous storytelling!”

SEN students changing minds 2021

To celebrate the culmination of the project’s second year, our participants came together for an online showcase of their work on Thursday 11 March. This was attended by their families, Harrow councillors, school staff, and our funders, Patrons, Trustees and staff.

The artists led us through an incredible exhibition of the children’s creativity: a dance inspired by melting ice caps, a drama about an imaginary new world, sculptures of animals inspired by indigenous artwork, comics starring superheroes saving the world, and much more.

“It was truly amazing to see the scale of talent of the children involved, their imaginations and their engagement in the workshop.”

Nicholas McCarthy, concert pianist and Create Patron

The children’s creations were widely admired by the attendees, one guest enthusing: “Beautiful dancing, fabulous art and fabulous story telling!”

The showcase concluded with a speech by world-renowned concert pianist, Create Patron Nicholas McCarthy, who expressed his admiration for the children’s talent. He said: “It was truly amazing to see the scale of talent of the children involved, their imaginations and their engagement in the workshop. For me as a Patron of this charity [this project] confirmed to me the need for people to have creative outlets at all stages of life, especially when we collectively face the difficulties that we have all faced of late.”

You can read quotes from participants and staff, and see the artwork below. 

See the artwork

comics

The children at Alexandra School created dynamic comics featuring superheroes saving the world, led by our artist Chloe Cooper. 

“I want to keep drawing Super Spider Girl and maybe one day she’ll have her own movie.”

participant

Dance

Our professional dancer Nikki Watson worked with students at Kingsley High School to explore different natural phenomena through movement. 

“It has been a wonderful experience and the children enjoyed it greatly. They have been able to learn dance, share, take turns, explore different activities and take initiative.”

staff member

Drama

At Shaftesbury High School, students worked with our theatre artist Jack Pryor to explore issues related to the environment through drama and created their own play performed over Zoom. 

“Thank you for giving us this opportunity. The workshops were really fun, and we really achieved something!”

Participant

sculpture

Participants at West Lodge Primary School worked with our sculptor Sam Haynes to create vibrant sculptures of animals inspired by art made by the people who share their natural habitat.

“My favourite moment was making the elephant.”

participant

You can see this fantastic elephant – and all their other work – here:

visual art

Our artist Amy Leung worked with children at Woodlands School to explore different habitats using art – from jungles and deserts to rich underground worlds.

“Undoubtedly, the sessions offered to our pupils the opportunity to feel connected and maintain their social skills. The sessions were something to wait for during the weeks under lockdown. They were happy to attend and express themselves through creativity.”

staff member

You can see the artwork here:

We’d like to congratulate our participants for producing so much inspiring artwork; and to thank our funders who made it possible.

Supported by:

john lyons logo

With additional support in 2020/21 from:

CA Redfern Charitable Foundation, David Solomon’s Charitable Trust

SEN students changing minds 2021

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Workshops via Create Live! Connect SEN students

sen students enjoy the creative explorers workshop

Workshops via Create Live! Connect SEN Students

sen students enjoy the creative explorers workshop

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused huge disruption to the education system throughout the UK. Students are not only worried about staying up to date with the curriculum, they are also concerned about being isolated from their friends in the longer term, owing to social distancing rules and classroom bubbles.

Set against the wider backdrop of deteriorating mental health in children owing to the pandemic, we knew that it was critical for us to adapt our workshops to reach the most vulnerable students in schools.

Piloting a new Format

With this in mind, we ran our creative:explorers project with students with special education needs (SEN students) at John F Kennedy Special School in Newham during November and December 2020. With in classroom support from the staff, we delivered a series of visual art and music workshops via our online delivery mechanism, Create Live!.

“These workshops helped the students to develop increased communication skills by exploring new ways to interact with their peers.”

Zoe, staff member at John F Kennedy Special School

The workshops, which were led by our professional artist Chloe Cooper and musician Mike Poyser, used art and music to explore emotions through colours. They enabled the children to explore their creativity and self-expression, while building social skills, digital skills and self-esteem, enhancing their wellbeing.

creative explorers quote block

Our standard Create Live! format involves individual participants joining each workshop from their own space. For this project, however, three groups of SEN students joined from separate classrooms, in their bubbles, using Create Live! to connect safely and digitally. This was a first for Create, and it posed an interesting challenge.

Each room had its own computer screen and webcam, which allowed the students to see the workshop facilitators and the other classrooms. The staff at the school acted as intermediaries, supporting the children in their workshop tasks and muting or unmuting the microphone when needed.

“I structured the sessions so there were lots of little tasks to do, like jamming along to some drums, writing chants, brainstorming ideas, and so on,” explained Mike. “We gave the students space and time to be creative in their rooms with limited input from us at times and also spent time listening to each class’s ideas.”  

“IT CAN’T BE OVER-EMPHASISED HOW BIG A DIFFERENCE IT IS”

“Working in a classroom rather than on individual screens is a big difference and it can’t be over-emphasised how big a difference it is,” said Mike. “Running this session was a totally alien experience at first. Talking to classes from my house and being unable to get much instant feedback felt odd. But we all settled into ways of making it work. The support staff were absolutely brilliant, and we relied heavily on them to help implement our ideas.”

The possibility of seeing their friends while creating music and art together had a positive impact on the children.

“I particularly enjoyed watching the students working together during the music sessions and drawing their favourite things during the art workshops,” said staff member Zoe. “These workshops helped the students to develop increased communication skills by exploring new ways to interact with their peers. They also got the chance to gain greater knowledge of their feelings and how to express them, while developing the confidence to share their ideas. And those who are non-verbal could show their emotions in a much deeper way.”

Their joy was palpable on the sharing day which, owing to a new lockdown announcement in mid-December, unexpectedly became the final day and its biggest highlight. This session was like a mini party. The students danced to the songs they had created while holding their artwork up to the webcam for all to see. As one child enthused, “I enjoyed singing with my friends and sang on my own in front of the whole group.”

“The final sharing offered the participants a great opportunity to revisit what they’d worked on and bring it back to life – there was lots of dancing and smiling faces!” said our Project Manager, Hannah.

Thinking on our feet

Create Live

We are delighted with the success of this creative:explorers project and how the workshops enabled SEN students to connect with their friends, express themselves and feel joyful at such a difficult time.

The volatility and unpredictability of the pandemic has pushed us to think on our feet and change our approach at a moment’s notice, working closely with our partners to find solutions that work for them and – most importantly – our participants. It isn’t always easy, but we have been relishing this challenge!

Since the launch of Create Live! in April 2020, we have remained committed to finding new ways to run our workshops safely and effectively so we can continue to reach our participants when they need us the most. We have already run more than 620 workshops and are excited to see where Create Live! takes us next…

sen students enjoy the creative explorers workshop

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Meet Jamie and Richard

creative connection 2018 meet jamie and richard
creative connection 2018 meet jamie and richard

MEET JAMIE AND RICHARD

creative:connection is our award-winning programme breaking down barriers between young people from special and mainstream schools. In July 2018, pupils from The Queen Katherine School and Sandgate School in Cumbria collaborated on a sculpture project. Two Kendal students told us about their experiences taking part in the project.

“I didn’t know any of the Sandgate students before. I’ve learnt about what issues people can have.”

Richard

Jamie, who attends Sandgate School:

“We’ve been making fish and underwater animals. We’re making them because people waste plastic and then they drop it in the water and the fish swallow the plastic and die because they think it’s food. I learned that it’s important to put plastic in the bin instead of throwing it on the floor. I’ve learned loads from Jack [Create’s professional artist].

“I don’t do creative things much apart from on Tuesdays at school. I’ve enjoyed all of the project. I liked the spray-painting that we did, and making the jellyfish head using weaving and threading. It’s been good working with the Queen Katherine students. I go to The Queen Katherine School at lunch so I’ll see the sculpture there.”

creative connection 2018 meet jamie and richard

Richard, who attends The Queen Katherine School:

“I’ve had the most fun on the project. You can make good things out of plastic if you proper think about it, like we’ve been making a turtle. I liked putting the plastic together to make the sculptures. This is the first time I’ve done sculpture. I wasn’t expecting us to make something so big.

“Being creative makes your brain better because you have to think of different things. It’s useful because if you have to make a poster in a history or French lesson at school, or if you’re designing your bedroom, you’ve got good ideas to do it.

“It’s nice working in the group because you can get to know people more. I didn’t know any of the Sandgate students before. I’ve learnt about what issues people can have. If you do something that a Sandgate student has an issue with and you didn’t know, you wouldn’t do it again because you’d know it would proper get them and they would have to calm down. Once you know that they are really friendly. They’re not as shy now as they were on the first day, and they’ve got good talent.”

creative connection 2018

Names changed to protect anonymity

Create’s charity partnership with Deutsche Bank

deutsche bank partnership connect create
connect create deutsche bank wandsworth

CREATE’S PARTNERSHIP WITH DEUTSCHE BANK EMPOWERS YOUNG PEOPLE THROUGH CREATIVITY

In April 2017, we launched connect:create, a partnership with Deutsche Bank. Via the programme, we’ve been able to work with over 120 young people: pupils with autism in west London, and young carers in Birmingham, Lambeth, Merton and Wandsworth.

Deutsche Bank’s Head of Corporate Social Responsibility UK, Nicole Lovett, explained: “Through Born to Be, our youth engagement programme, we are committed to driving social mobility. The World Economic Forum predicts that by 2020 creativity will be the third most important skill in the jobs market. The connect:create programme plays a vital role in developing key skills, like creativity, so those most in need improve their life chances.”

The young people who’ve taken part in the programme have explored artforms from spoken word poetry to life-size self-portraits; and collaborated creatively to choreograph dances and write songs. For young people whose opportunities to express themselves, build confidence and make friends can be limited because of autism or caring responsibilities, the chance to learn a new skill and share creative ideas with peers can be truly empowering.

Thanks to Deutsche Bank, the young people who took part in connect:create have had access to the benefits of creativity through workshops run by our professional artists and we’re delighted that, after a fantastic first year, Deutsche Bank has renewed funding for connect:create for a further two years. We’re also delighted to have won two days ago Children & Young People Now Highly Commended Awards recognising our work with two areas that Deutsche Bank are supporting: young carers and young people with disabilities.

deutsche bank partnership connect create

Adam (not his real name), 15, a young carer who took part in connect:create, told us about his experiences during our animation workshops: “During the animation project we started from scratch, got materials together, and worked together to make an animation. Animation looks easy but it takes time, you can’t just do it first time round, you have to keep trying. When we’d finished the animation, I felt surprised that just from putting some materials on paper you can make a film. You work as a group and make what you want to make. At times I can be moody and only join in when I want to but this project has shown me that I should join in all the time.”

Andrew Nowak is Deputy Head of Queensmill School in west London, a specialist school for children and young people diagnosed with autism which partnered with us during connect:create. Like Nicole, Andrew says that creativity is essential for the development of key skills:

“The work Create is doing today is valuable because we’re talking about young people who have significant challenges in terms of imagination, creative thought and working with others. Projects where we’re challenging the young people to work creatively, to work with their peers, to come up with new ideas outside their areas of interest, play a significant role in their education. I don’t think you can underestimate how difficult the young people here find it at times to work collaboratively, to work creatively, so any project where we’ve got people who want to provide support in developing those skills is of vital importance.

“One thing we do know about autism is that lots of skills that are perhaps inherent in other people we have to teach, so by doing projects like this we are teaching the young people to be creative, to use their imagination. The hope is when they come up against challenge they can reflect on those experiences and think about how they can succeed. This project will serve as a reference point for the young people, so at times when we are challenging them to think creatively or when we are asking them to work together, we can say: ‘think back to that time when you did that Create project, think about the skills you used, how did you approach it?’

“The project is also getting them to think about things they wouldn’t otherwise think about. With young people with additional needs you can fall into a trap of having quite a narrow curriculum and being really focussed on core skills, but they need to learn about everything and understand the world.”

We also won the FSI Small Charity Big Impact award earlier in the year, one of the prizes for which was a film, which we chose to focus on our Deutsche Bank project with Queensmill School. You can watch this here, and below.

This article is from 2017.

Biggest ever creative:connection project celebrates One Love Manchester

creative connection Manchester 2017
creative connection Manchester 2017

BIGGEST EVER CREATIVE:CONNECTION PROJECT CELEBRATES ONE LOVE MANCHESTER

In July 2017, in Manchester and Salford, Create ran its biggest ever creative:connection project.

Four of our professional musicians worked with 56 disabled and non-disabled pupils from four schools to write original songs and music. The project culminated on Friday 14 July, when the young people gave two vibrant lunchtime performances of their seven pieces to an audience of 800+ people at intu Trafford Centre.

The schools involved were Chatsworth High School (for pupils with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties and autism), Grange School (which provides education for the “Autism Community”), Loreto School (a mainstream secondary school), and New Park High School (for pupils with special educational needs or social, emotional or mental health difficulties).

creative connection Manchester 2017
Create 2017 performance on the Orient Stage – Trafford Centre

Themed around “Manchester”, our professional musicians Emily Allen, Matthew Dunn, Mike Poyser and Bethan Roberts drew song and music ideas from the young people who created and rehearsed their new musical pieces with support from amazing volunteers from project funder intu.

Below are the lyrics to One Love Manchester, which was written and performed collaboratively by pupils from all four schools, the chorus also being sung in sign language. Pupils from Chatsworth High School prepared a slideshow of iconic images from Manchester, which were projected on a big screen during the performance.

Chorus (Written by all participants)
Even though the skies are grey
Music lifts the clouds away
We’re singing all together
One Love Manchester

Verse 1 (Written by New Park High School & Chatsworth High School)
We believe, let’s unite
Stand together, let’s not fight
Although people try to break us
Peace and unity is a must
Shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand
Together in Manchester, we must stand
I’m not city or united
I’m a Manchester fan, our kid!

Verse 2 (Written by New Park High School & Chatsworth High School)
Robots dancing at the MOSI
Salford Quays, a sight to see
If your life gets too boring
Hit the museum of Alan Turing
One of my favourite things to eat
Eccles cakes in Albert Square
Let’s all join in with the beat
Football, cricket, we’ll see you there

Verse 3 (Written by Grange School & Loreto School)
Vibrant, inspiring, creative energy
Strong sense of community and solidarity
Our bond is unbreakable in this city
We’re destined to be

Manchester and me!

Verse 4 (Written by Grange School & Loreto School)
Cup of tea and Bourbon Cream
Everyone knows that is my dream
Sharing our Tombola ices
Sweet and salty, all the spices
Curry Mile and China Town
This is how we like to get down

creative connection Manchester 2017
Create 2017 performance on the Orient Stage – Trafford Centre

creative:connection is designed to tackle disability prejudice through collaborative creativity. In a survey carried out by Scope and Mumsnet, four in 10 parents of children with disabilities reported that their child ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ has the opportunity to socialise with children without disabilities. Scope also found that two-thirds of the British public feel uncomfortable when talking to disabled people and that disabled people themselves think more interactions between disabled and non-disabled children would bring about improved attitudes towards disabled people. We designed creative:connection to encourage the development of these positive attitudes among children and young people through the experience of collaborative expression.

Since 2013 we have run creative:connection across England, from Cumbria to Kent. The programme has worked with 954 participants, 97% of them saying they had enjoyed the project and working with our artists; 91% that it had developed their creativity and 89% that it developed their teamwork. In 2016/17, 100% of our community partner staff rated creative:connection “successful overall”.

I was lucky enough to be at the intu Trafford Centre performance and it was brilliant – not only could you see how much fun the young people were having but how much they’d bonded through the song writing and rehearsal process. New friendships were formed and a wonderful shared understanding developed between students of different abilities. They were creative and collaborative and the performance was inspirational, showing the power of working together towards a shared goal and passion. We’re so proud to have been part of this wonderful experience and thank intu Properties plc for making the project possible.

We hope you enjoy these amazing photos from the performance, © intu Trafford Centre and Nick Harrison.

By Nicky Goulder, Founding Chief Executive

Create shortlisted for 2017 Charity Awards

charity times shortlist
creative connection 2017

CREATE SHORTLISTED FOR 2017 CHARITY AWARDS

Every week at Create is an exciting mix of delivering current projects and working with community partners, participants and our professional artists to plan projects for the future. But this week was particularly exciting as we found out our creative:connection programme has been shortlisted for the Charity Awards’ prestigious Arts, Culture and Heritage Award.

The Charity Awards is the charity sector’s longest-running, biggest and best-known awards ceremony. Charities are judged by an independent panel of charity leaders as having demonstrated outstanding best practice which other organisations can learn from across 10 categories. The category winners, plus the recipients of the Overall Award for Excellence and the Daniel Phelan Award for Outstanding Achievement, will be announced at a black tie dinner on 8 June, held in the grounds of the Tower of London.

Julian Chislett, Chief Executive of Civil Society Media, which organises the Charity Awards, congratulated all the shortlisted charities on making the highly-coveted shortlist: “The standard of entries this year was incredible, and the charities we shortlist remain a constant inspiration to all of us. Our rigorous judging process singles out those charities with the most innovative ideas and the most inspirational approaches to delivering maximum impact.”

charity times shortlist

Our creative:connection programme brings school pupils with and without disabilities together to make collaborative art. Working with our professional artists, young people across England, from Cumbria to Kent, have made visual art, music, film and more whilst building shared understanding and developing confidence and communication skills.

This is the fourth time Create has been shortlisted for a prestigious award in the last 12 months. In November we won the Children & Young People Now “Arts and Culture Award” and earlier in 2016 we were shortlisted for both The Third Sector and Charity Times Charity of the Year awards.

The outcomes of our projects for the participants are the greatest reward we can receive for our work. But winning and being shortlisted for these awards is fantastic recognition of the hard-work and success of our committed team of artists, staff, community partners and the funders who make our work possible, and confirms Create’s position as the UK’s leading charity for empowering lives through the creative arts.

Nicky Goulder, Founding Chief Executive

Interview: Create artist Sheridan Quigley

creative connection 2016
creative connection 2016

INTERVIEW: CREATE ARTIST SHERIDAN QUIGLEY

Our visual artist Sheridan Quigley recently led two of our creative:connection projects, funded through our new partnership with Prudential plc. These brought together disabled and non-disabled students from Livity and Dunraven schools in Lambeth, and from Haymerle and John Donne schools in Southwark. Here she tells us about the work they created. (This article is from 2016.)

creative connection 2016

“Within creative projects, people bring a wide array of skills and interests that they have gained from all sorts of experiences in their lives to date, regardless of their particular circumstances. It’s not about having to produce work that can be graded or formalised but about expressing themselves, their imaginations and their emotional responses. Everyone has something to say, everyone has a unique perspective, all of which deserve to be heard and deserve respect. Consequently, collaborative arts are very democratic. What they require of the participant is a willingness to contribute as whole-heartedly as possible, without fear. A fully supportive environment, like creative:connection, makes this possible.

creative:connection uses collaborative art to bring together pupils from an SEN and a mainstream school. Working on the projects, you can see how beneficial it is to spend time with people who have different skills and life experiences. The pupils become accepting, respectful and patient, learning to work at each other’s pace and appreciate the different ways of doing things. It’s important to learn at a young age to be adaptable in the way you communicate depending on who you are with.

“In Lambeth we created a 30 metre mural for the playground wall of the Livity School. The idea was to produce a piece which, as well as being fun to look at, could act as a learning reinforcement for the pupils. Children at Livity School have severe learning difficulties, PMLD, ASD and complex medical needs, so the mural was based around the shapes which can most readily be identified, drawn and named by the pupils, namely circles, squares and triangles. Similarly, the colour palette of the mural focused mainly on primary colours: red and yellow being a particularly important colour combination for children with vision impairment. The intention is for the Livity pupils to further their enjoyment of the mural by drawing into it with chalk, engaging with the existing shapes and adding their own embellishments.

“Throughout the project the Dunraven students, who were older than the Livity pupils, took care to focus in on the individual personalities and needs of the young people they were working with, winning their trust and affection. Because the mural was in the playground, its development was visible to the whole school community. On the last day, we had members of staff across the school coming over and telling us how much their own pupils were enjoying the gradual emergence of the mural and looking forward to adding their own contributions.

creative connection 2016

“Haymerle School, a school supporting children with a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders and social communication difficulties, has a meadow area for pupils to play in. Working collaboratively with pupils from Haymerle and John Donne schools, we built a series of willow structures in the meadow that could act as a focus point of calm and contemplation. We built two enclosed domes, which the pupils really enjoy sitting in, as well as a large owl and pussycat, inspired by the Edward Lear poem (which will provide material for future learning at the school). We also built a crawl tunnel, which is useful for helping to develop physical coordination.

“Working with willow involves a repetitive process of bending, twisting and securing. This is ideal for the age-group of the participants because they rapidly develop a skill that they can take personal responsibility for and then use it to contribute immediately to a collaborative building exercise. Throughout the project, the participants helped each other with all aspects of the build. Two groups of Haymerle pupils worked on the entire project, while the pupils from John Donne changed with every session. Consequently the Haymerle participants built up their understanding of the construction process and explained and demonstrated the techniques to the new groups of John Donne pupils. They found this exciting and empowering.

“We staged a full-blown ceremony to celebrate the completion of the willow structures, with a musical parade by many of the participants round and round the new sculptures, culminating in an ice-cream picnic inside the domes.

creative connection 2016

“On both projects there was a great sense of achievement and completion – in particular, amazement at the scale of what we made together. For me it reinforced the knowledge that every school is unique, every class in every school is unique, and every individual is unique. Although I have an overarching objective in mind at the planning stage of a project, the plan has to have plenty of space for the multiple imaginative inputs of the participants. I have to be prepared to go with the flow, adapting my approach as the moment requires, to respond effectively to the needs of the group and all its individuals. Consequently, every project is a collaborative learning experience – we’re all in it together!”

creative:connection in Southwark and Lambeth were funded by Prudential plc. Create has been running creative:connection since 2013, delivering 270 hours of creative arts workshops with 243 participants. In total, Create has worked with 8,245 participants with disabilities or SEN since it was founded in 2003.

This article is from 2016.