Participant Group: Young and adult carers

art:space – celebrating ten years of empowering young carers with British Land

Posted on October 15, 2021 by - Blogs, Stories

art space British Land
art space British Land

ART:SPACE – CELEBRATING TEN YEARS OF EMPOWERING YOUNG CARERS WITH BRITISH LAND

We have been working in partnership with British Land since 2003, the year Create was founded. Four years later, in 2007, we designed and delivered our first project with young carers – a vulnerable group of children who often experience bullying, isolation and mental ill health – in Westminster, the borough in which British Land’s head office is located, which we called art:space.

Since then, enabled by our ongoing relationship with British Land, we’ve worked with more than 1,000 young carers in Bath, Milton Keynes, Swindon, Winchester and the London boroughs of Camden, Hackney, Kingston, Southwark and Westminster. art:space offers them the opportunity to develop confidence, creative and social skills, and build relationships with other young carers while having a vital – and fun – break from their caring responsibilities.

art space British Land

Supported by committed, skilled volunteers from British Land, each art:space project brings young carers together for creative workshops during school holidays throughout the year. Often located at British Land sites, and using the spectacular artwork and architecture to inspire creative activities, our professional artists work with the young people to explore a range of art forms. These include music, drama, dance, film making, animation, sculpture, costume design, jewellery-making, painting and word play. Final performances or exhibitions at the end of each project give the young carers the chance to work collaboratively to share their work with a wider audience and build their confidence.

Joanne Hammond, Community Investment Executive at British Land, said: “The art:space programme is a wonderful example of how we connect with our local communities. Working with Create, we are delighted to give vulnerable young carers who are local to our properties a break from their caring responsibilities and the chance to explore their creativity, boost their confidence and build supportive relationships with their peers. Create carefully designs each art:space project to meet the needs of local young carers and fulfil our objectives, making a positive local difference. Our volunteers and visitors are inspired and impressed by the creativity of the young carers, enlivening our properties with their original artwork and performances, supported by Create’s professional artists.”

To celebrate ten years of art:space, we’ve collected some of our favourite quotes from participants over the years.

art space British Land

Meet Cara

Cara (15) took part in art:space Winchester

“It’s difficult to get away from home and do creative things. The time it takes to travel to do projects means that I’m leaving my mum alone and she needs my help to care for my sister. My sister has the learning age of a 4-6 year old although she’s actually 20 so I play with her, keep her happy, help her get changed and give her medicine. It’s a lot for my mum to deal with on her own. At school we don’t do things like film-making but at home I do photography so this project helped me take the skills that I have and develop them into something new. Being creative makes me really happy. It gives me a chance to get away from the stress, even it’s just for a little while. These workshops have enabled me to have fun with my friends and learn something new together. When it’s stressful at home, I come and do this three-day workshop and it takes my mind off it.”

Meet Erin

Erin (10) took part in art:space Westminster

“I feel really proud of my role creating the animation. The bit that I made got used by everyone, so that made me happy. I learnt so much in these workshops: how to set up a camera; how to set up a tripod; make animations; everything really! I have a quick temper sometimes so I was proud that I was able to work well in a group. I took a step back and learnt that it’s good to listen to other people’s ideas. Also, other people at school have been asking about the workshops and what we’ve been doing in them, so that felt good. I’ve felt a bit more confident too, because I used to have only one friend in the school but now I’m on the way to having more friends.”

Meet Owen

Owen (16) took part in art:space Bath

“My mum developed a back problem when I was about 12 years old. It progressed until a doctor told her she couldn’t work anymore and she now suffers from depression and constant pain. My brother and I were left to go through the teen years alone and it was tough, I have only just realised that. It was really nice to explore making music because I’ve never had the chance to try it out before. Being in this environment with musicians who are friendly and have a laugh with you really encouraged me to try new things and expand my skills and knowledge. Creativity helps me to think positively, just getting on with music and doing something I like doing improves my mind-set. I felt a lot of pride when making the soundtrack; pride and a feeling of accomplishment in saying, ‘Yeah, I did that.’”

art space British Land

Cara, Erin and Owen articulate why art:space is such an important project. From taking young carers’ minds off what can be an overwhelming family situation to building creative and social skills that they can use at home and at school, art:space exemplifies how much the opportunity to be creative benefits the most disadvantaged and vulnerable in our society. We are deeply grateful to British Land for our long-term partnership and for enabling us to empower the lives of more than 1,000 young carers over the past 10 years.

art space British Land
art space British Land

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Create wins East End Community Foundation Smooth Sailing award

Posted on October 15, 2021 by - News, Blogs

Create wins East End Community Foundation Smooth Sailing Award
Create wins East End Community Foundation Smooth Sailing Award

CREATE WINS EAST END COMMUNITY FOUNDATION’S SMOOTH SAILING AWARD

Last week, our Development Assistant Thisbe attended a holiday celebration hosted by East End Community Foundation (EECF) which generously supports our work with young carers in Newham. Unexpectedly – we didn’t know awards would be handed out! – and to our delight, Create received EECF’s Smooth Sailing Award.

EECF’s CEO, Tracey Walsh, commented: “Create was selected by the EECF Grants Team for the Smooth Sailing Award in 2016/17. It has demonstrated excellent communication, always kept us up to date on project developments, was happy to host visits and has consistently submitted its monitoring and end of grant reports on time and with a great level of detail. Its work in Newham with young carers has demonstrated really positive outcomes. Congratulations to Create for receiving the award and for being such a pleasure to work with.”

This award is particularly meaningful as it reflects the hard work, dedication and professionalism of our staff team and artists. Training, evaluation, meticulous financial management and flexibility to meet our funders’ and community partners’ specific objectives are key values at Create, ensuring that we always provide the very best outcome for our participants. We are thrilled to be recognised with this prestigious award.

Receiving EECF’s Smooth Sailing Award is the perfect end to a year that’s seen Create recognised by Children & Young People Now, Charity Awards, Foundation for Social Improvement and Directory of Social Change Awards.

Here’s to more award-winning work in 2018!

Nicky Goulder, Founding Chief Executive

This article is from 2017.

Create’s charity partnership with Deutsche Bank

Posted on October 15, 2021 by - Blogs, Stories

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.

Create wins three Children and Young People Now awards

Posted on October 15, 2021 by - News

children and young people now awards 2017
children and young people now awards 2017

CREATE WINS THREE CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE NOW HIGHLY COMMENDED AWARDS

Last night was a highly emotional and successful one for Create: our work with children and young people was recognised with not one, not two but THREE Children & Young People Now Highly Commended awards.

Our Senior Project Manager Jodie Sadler and I attended the ceremony, an evening that celebrates the work of those working with children, young people and families across the UK. The event was fun – the celebratory tone was set from the start with a vibrant performance by students from the World Heart Beat Music Academy which received rapturous applause – always great to have the arts up front! The evening was compered by TV and radio presenter and Childline Counsellor Anna Williamson.

The Children & Young People Now Awards have become the gold standard for everyone working with children, young people and families. Now in their 12th year, these awards are a great source of pride and recognition for all those who strive to improve the lives of others. They raise the profile of projects and initiatives to funders and the general public, and showcase learning and best practice from across the country. Crucially, entrants must be able to provide evidence that what they have done has had a positive impact on people’s lives.

So what did we win?

The Youth Work Award for ‘the initiative that has done the most to promote young people’s personal development and help them to achieve their potential.’

We were Highly Commended for creative:connection, our programme that brings disabled and non-disabled children and young people together for creative activities, helping to break down barriers and develop shared understanding.

Whitney, 14, who took part in a creative:connection project in Barnet, north London, said: “I didn’t know any disabled people before this project so I wasn’t sure how we’d work together a team. I thought they might struggle with certain things and they proved me wrong. I have a different understanding of disability now. I saw that the disabled students had so much fun being creative and getting stuck into the activities.”

The Young Carers Award for ‘the initiative that has done the most to support children, young people or young adults up to 25 who care for a family member or friend with an illness, disability, mental health problem or addition.’

We were Highly Commended for art:space and inspired:arts, our programmes that give young carers a break from their caring responsibilities and enable them to develop new skills and peer support.

Anthony, 12, who took part in an inspired:arts project in Newham, east London, said: “I wasn’t really a creative person before and I didn’t think much of art but the Create workshops have helped me realise that there are loads of exciting artforms I can explore. Now I’m thinking about taking Art GCSE. Young carers take on a lot and do a lot at home, so it’s really important that every now and then we get together and have a chance to do something that’s just for us. When you spend time with other young carers you can share your problems and experiences with each other, which is really important.”

The Youth Justice Award for ‘the initiative that has made the biggest contribution to improving the life chances of young offenders, or those at risk of offending or reoffending.’

We were Highly Commended for Inside Stories, our programme through which young offenders write, record, illustrate and set to music original stories for their children.

Ryan, who took part in an Inside Stories project, said: “You’ll hear a lot of people in jail saying their kids are their rocks. You can only make two phone calls a week in here and it’s hard to talk to them because, well, there’s not a lot you can say to children while you’re in prison. Having this book that you can give to them, and a CD where they can hear your voice makes you feel good. They can say “that’s my daddy”. It makes me feel good knowing they can hear my voice whenever they want, just by pressing ‘play’ on a CD player.”

We are deeply committed to raising awareness of the empowering qualities of engaging in the creative arts. To have been acknowledged with three Children and Young People Now Highly Commended awards is wonderful recognition of the deep commitment to our work with children and young people shown by our funders, our dedicated staff team and the inspirational professional artists who deliver our programmes.

Nicky Goulder, Founding Chief Executive

This article is from 2017.

Create shortlisted for three Children & Young People Now awards

Posted on October 15, 2021 by - News, Blogs

children and young people now finalist 2017
children and young people now finalist 2017

CREATE SHORTLISTED FOR THREE CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE NOW AWARDS

Everyone at Create is feeling a little overwhelmed this week after we found out we’ve been shortlisted for three (three!) Children & Young People Now awards.

These are the Young Carers Award, the Youth Justice Award and the Youth Work Award. That the awards cover the work with three of our seven key participant groups reflects the high-quality of our workshops across the board. We couldn’t have delivered such well-received projects without the hard work of our staff, artists, community partners, supporters and funders, but most importantly our amazing participants!

The Young Carers Award is for the initiative that has done the most to support children, young people or young adults up to 25 who care for a family member or friend with an illness, disability, mental health problem or addiction. This includes support to meet carers’ educational, health, social and emotional needs; helping carers who have previously been unidentified by services; and working with families to reduce inappropriate levels of caring.

The Youth Justice Award is for the initiative that has made the biggest contribution to improving the life chances of young offenders, or those at risk of offending or reoffending. Entries are invited from local authorities, youth offending teams and youth services, as well as voluntary organisations and individual projects.

The Youth Work Award is for the initiative that has done the most to promote young people’s personal development and help them achieve their potential through youth work, informal education and participation in positive activities, especially among disadvantaged or excluded groups.

Ravi Chandiramani, Editor-in-chief of Children & Young People Now, said: “The Children & Young People Now Awards have become the gold standard for everyone working with children, young people and families. Now in their twelfth year, these awards provide a great source of pride and recognition for all those who strive day in, day out, to improve the lives of others. They offer an opportunity to raise the profile of projects and initiatives to funders and the general public.

“And they present a tremendous showcase of learning and best practice from across the country that can be an inspiration to all. The awards recognise initiatives from the public, private and voluntary sector that work with children and young people from birth to adolescence as well as their families. Initiatives might be aimed at all children and families within a community or targeted at those who are the most vulnerable or disadvantaged. Crucially, entrants must be able to provide evidence that what they have done has had a positive impact on people’s lives.”

The Children & Young People Now Award Ceremony takes place on Wednesday 22 November – we’ll let you know how we get on!

Nicky Goulder, Founding Chief Executive

This article is from 2017.

Create celebrates importance of creativity at new Design Museum

Posted on October 13, 2021 by - Blogs, News

Young carers at Design Museum event 2017
Young carers at Design Museum event 2017

CREATE CELEBRATES THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVITY AT THE NEW DESIGN MUSEUM

On the evening of Thursday 16 March 2017, I had the great pleasure of welcoming more than 200 guests to our Special Private View of the Design Museum in Kensington, recently opened in its stunning new venue.

This exclusive evening of music, wine, conversation and curated tours presented an opportunity for guests to explore a world-class museum and its cutting-edge exhibitions in an intimate way after the doors closed to the general public. It also enabled us to raise more than £30,000 towards our work with disadvantaged and vulnerable people.

The evening opened with a reception of canapés and wine. Entering into the museum’s impressive atrium, guests were able to enjoy the space’s dramatic architecture and distinctive curved ceiling with a glass of wine, kindly sponsored by Chelsea arts gallery The Dot Project.

Create Ambassador and previous Design Museum Trustee Alistair DK Johnston CMG took to the stage, welcoming guests and thanking the event’s sponsors including The Kairos Collective, headline sponsor and online marketplace for the home. He introduced Design Museum Director Alice Black to the stage, who explained the history of the museum and told of its explosion in popularity since relocating to Kensington. She also talked of the connection between Create and the Design Museum as two organisations that celebrate and champion the importance of creativity.

Nicky Goulder at Design Museum event 2017

In my speech, I shared the story of one of the most moving encounters I have had with a Create participant. Kojo (name changed to protect anonymity) is a young carer in Merton. He cares for his mum who has epilepsy and is partially blind. He has Asperger Syndrome himself, which, in conjunction with his caring responsibilities, has impacted his ability to make friends. I talked of seeing his level of confidence and self-esteem rocket during one of our photography projects, when his favourite image was purchased during the exhibition. One year later, he came with me to Buckingham Palace where he told his story and we were successfully awarded a transformational grant of £480,000 from The Queen’s Trust.

Sixteen children aged 7–10 from Hallfield Primary School, under the leadership of our professional musician Merit Stephanos, then wowed our guests and their parents with their world premiere performance of Sonic Design, the new piece they had written in response to the museum.

One of the children, Sophie aged 8, sang a solo in the performance: “I got to sing for my first ever audience in my whole life, and my mum was there. I was so shocked when I saw all the people: this is the biggest place I’ve ever seen and the biggest audience I’ve ever seen. I was nervous at first, but then I sang a bit more and felt more confident. At the end the audience kept on cheering for us and I felt really proud of myself.”

Sophie’s mum, Claire, told us what a meaningful experience this was for Sophie: “Sophie has two siblings, an older brother and an older sister, who both have autism. She doesn’t get half the things they get, like special trips out. So she gets a bit left out sometimes and having this opportunity to do something special just for her is something that she deserves. Her confidence has grown with it untold.

“I didn’t even know she was doing a solo until today! Although she’s quite loud sometimes, inside she’s quite shy so I didn’t think she’d have the courage to do it. She surprised me. She absolutely loves music so to have the opportunity to sing in front of so many people is amazing. I’m so proud of her.”

Click to watch Sophie’s Story

The children’s song was beautiful and uplifting. Looking around the room at the smiles on the faces of the guests, and hearing their comments and enthusiasm afterwards, it was clear how the children’s songs had touched them and demonstrated how creativity has the power to connect us all.

The guests then enjoyed intimate access to the Design Museum’s new exhibitions through curated tours sponsored by KPMG. Fear and Love presents eleven new installations by some of the most innovative and thought-provoking designers and architects working today; Designer Maker User presents the museum’s collection that looks at the development of modern design through these three interconnected roles.

As the guests finished their tours and began to leave the museum, they were handed goodie bags as a luxurious memento of the evening. We’d like to thank the event’s headline sponsor The Kairos Collective for contributing stylish tote bags and packets of forget-me-nots; Candy Kittens for contributing a colourful range of delicious gourmet sweets; and Time Inc UK for contributing indulgent beauty sets.

The £30,000+ raised from the evening through donations, ticket sales and corporate sponsorship will provide us with the funds we need to reach out to many more vulnerable children and adults across the UK over the coming months including: young patients; young carers; children with disabilities; and homeless people. Thank you.

Nicky Goulder
Co-Founder and Chief Executive, Create

Headline sponsor: The Kairos Collective
The Kairos Collective, launched in 2017 by founder Tanya Southworth, is a carefully curated, online marketplace for the home, bringing together the best of London’s design neighbourhoods into one online design district. Kairos brings together a collection of unique and eclectic homeware from a range of undiscovered interiors boutiques. Offering everything you need to create a home, from furniture and accessories to artwork and books, it believes in representing quality craftsmanship, not disposable quick fixes. It is THE destination for design enthusiasts and collectors who simply don’t have time to hunt for the perfect piece.

“My vision for The Kairos Collective was to inspire a community of young collectors, curators and enthusiasts by bringing together the very best of London’s interior boutiques, all onto one easy-to-use website. We share the vision of Create to integrate individuals from different parts of society into the world of creative arts. As the headline sponsor of the Special Private View, we are delighted to help raise awareness of the meaningful work carried out by Create.” Tanya Southworth, Founder, The Kairos Collective

Wine sponsor: The Dot Project
The Dot Project is a forward thinking and innovative arts space in Chelsea. The gallery identifies emerging contemporary artists, working in a variety of mediums comprised within both group and solo shows, curated with a global perspective. The Dot Project provides a test bed for young practitioners to exhibit in a dynamic and open space with highly focused curatorial support.

Curated tour sponsor: KPMG
KPMG is one of the largest professional services companies in the world and one of the Big Four auditors. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen, the Netherlands. KPMG employs 189,000 people and has three lines of services: audit, tax, and advisory.

Meet Peter

Posted on October 13, 2021 by - Stories

creative voices storybook 2017
creative voices storybook 2017

MEET PETER

Peter cares for his wife who has paranoid schizophrenia. He took part in creative:voices, a project that enabled adult carers to explore their creativity through writing and collage:

“I always thought of myself as a bit of a slow visual learner. Create has given me the time and effort to bring myself out and kind of explode on the page. The creative arts allow us to express ourselves. Everyone is able to do their own thing. In some spaces, I feel like I don’t know anything about art but by the end of the project we all felt like arts masters.

“The main thing that stops me from making art is the lack of opportunities. I just don’t normally get offered the chance to do something like this. Projects like these enable me to do the things that I would have loved to have done at school but never did. I’m going to use the skills that I’ve learnt with my little boy and create a few stories with him.

“This project seemed like the perfect opportunity to take my writing to the next level. I’ve done free courses online but none of them have come close to increasing my confidence like Create has. I now feel able to go from A-Z with making a book. I can write, produce illustrations and do everything that goes into creating a book.

“Although my wife is also a writer and has been published, I’m looking forward to sharing with her some of the visual skills that I’ve learnt. I’d really like it if she was able to give some input into making what I want to do as well.

“I’ve done free courses online but none of them have come close to increasing my confidence like Create has.”

Peter, adult carer

“I’ve definitely become more relaxed since taking part in creative:voices. I’ve gone from a person that struggled expressing themselves visually to someone who feels completely comfortable with creating art. I think my wife has noticed that I’m a lot more relaxed in myself now. I’m trying not to let everything build up and get on top of me. Now I’m a lot more relaxed because I’ve actually got an outlet – I’ve got some direction that I want to be setting myself on.

“I was surprised by how well I managed to work with other people. When I first walked through the door, I was a bit nervous because I didn’t know anyone but then we worked together and through that we formed a bond. Both Create’s artists always there when we had ideas that we wanted to bounce around and discuss. All the other staff at Create have been really supportive too.”

*Name changed to protect anonymity

This story is from 2017.

Interview: Hayley Kruger on creating with young carers

Posted on October 13, 2021 by - Blogs, Stories

hayley kruger inspired arts
hayley kruger inspired arts

INTERVIEW: JEWELLERY DESIGNER HAYLEY KRUGER ON CREATING WITH YOUNG CARERS

Throughout November and December 2016 our professional jewellery maker Hayley Kruger collaborated with young carers at Carers Support Merton and Sutton Carers Centre on Create’s inspired:arts programme.

With the school holidays approaching – a period that can mean increased responsibility for young carers – the children have been working with Hayley to design jewellery to gift to those they are close to over the festive period.

Hayley has been a jewellery designer for over 13 years, both for herself and for established brands within the fashion industry. In recent years her practice has returned to her roots, working on fine jewellery commissions alongside facilitating design workshops with Create:

“There have been so many wonderful moments working alongside young carers – and many other groups – and the Create team over the years. I’ve had loads of fun and the workshops have seen the creation of a real range of work: culturally-inspired body wear made to reflect the diverse identities within the participant groups; jewellery upcycled from used magazines, plastic bottles, fabric and drinking straws; stained glass-style decorations that hung in public at London’s Broadgate Circle … and those are just a few! There’s been so much wonderful jewellery made – earrings, bangles, necklaces, rings – that participants have either gifted to loved ones or kept as proud mementos of their creativity.

“Over the last month of workshops collaborating with the young people from Carers Support Merton, we’ve been designing pieces to be shared, making gifts for friends and family, as well as creating beaded Christmas decorations.

“It’s the young carers’ inventive themes that drive these projects forward. I recently read a quote stating that ’people who participate in the arts and crafts feel happier, calmer and more energetic’. It’s something that seems to ring true when you witness the creativity and interaction between these young people, all of whom share this common ground of caring.

“The workshops provide respite for both the young carers and their families from what can be quite pressurised domestic situations. By inspiring creativity within the young people, there is a sense of rejuvenated spirit. The sessions offer a break and a space for free time that can be restricted by responsibility.

“As a practitioner and artist on these young carer projects, I always learn. Working with participants is very different from my day-to-day work, which is usually quite an individualistic practice. Here, I learn so much about understanding other personalities and gain real insights into people’s backgrounds. I’ve also learned that patience is rewarding.

“The special moment for me is in seeing the difference in a participant’s confidence from the project’s beginning and at its end. It’s often those who at first might seem disinterested or may be a little disruptive that tend to come out of their shells the most. This transformation – witnessing the young carers sharing their work with the group and expressing interest in one another and their art – embodies exactly what this project sets out to do and why these workshops can be so beneficial for the young carers involved.”

This article is from 2016.

Corporate volunteer Andy from Reed Smith

Posted on October 13, 2021 by - Blogs, Stories

Andy Reed Smith
Andy Reed Smith

CORPORATE VOLUNTEER ANDY FROM REED SMITH

Each year, we collaborate with international law-firm, Reed Smith to enable adult carers at Newham Carers Network to benefit from relaxing, life-enhancing creative arts workshops through our creative:release project.

Reed Smith is based in the City of London, a stone’s throw from the London Borough of Newham, and dedicated staff give up their time to work alongside our professional artists and the carers.

Andy Reed Smith

This year, Andy – a Record Clerk at Reed Smith – took part in visual arts workshops with the carers. Together with our visual artist Maru Rojas, they experimented with a range of challenging and stimulating artistic techniques. In one week, Andy and the carers attached pieces of charcoal to sticks of bamboo, testing their imaginations (and dexterity!) as they created an underwater scene with their makeshift artistic tools. In another week, they recycled old images and photographs, upcycling them by painting over the top and sewing thread across the images. Using snapshots of the past, they worked together to create new memories to treasure.

Here, Andy describes his experience of working as a volunteer at creative:release.

“Firstly I’d like to say how engaging and skilled I found Create’s project team, including Maru Rojas – the artist who led the workshop – and Ce’Ce at Newham Carers Network. They were all very encouraging to me and the carers throughout the project.

“I found volunteering at the workshops a really enriching experience, as it took me to an unfamiliar part of London and gave me the opportunity to socialise with people I wouldn’t otherwise get to meet.

“My job with Reed Smith is as a records clerk, which is fairly repetitive and screen based, so the workshops were an excellent “recharge”, helping to boost my enthusiasm level back at the office.

“I believe the arts are very important and a social good that should be accessible to all. We need all the obvious stuff: rule of law, reliable public transport, utilities, roads, schools, hospitals etc. but art, when you think about it, is one of the things that make life worth living.

“I hope I have contributed in some small way to the amazing success of the programme.”

Andy Reed Smith

Meet Anne

Posted on October 13, 2021 by - Stories

creative voices photograph
creative voices photograph

MEET ANNE

creative:voices is Create’s multi-artform programme for adult carers. From March to May 2016 creative:voices went to Carers Support Merton (CSM) where professional photographer Tracey Fahy ran workshops exploring different types of photography and uses of photos.

creative:voices enabled the adult carers to take a break from their caring responsibilities, build trusting relationships with their peers and develop communication skills and confidence.

Meet Anne

“If creativity isn’t there life can be so sterile. It enriches and nourishes your soul and wellbeing.”

Anne

Anne (not her real name), a participant at CSM, told us about taking part in creative:voices:

“I thought the sessions were really good and I looked forward to them as an outlet. Talking to other carers helps end any feelings of isolation. The project has enabled me to think about better ways of relaxing myself and in the process of my being relaxed and harmonious I’m able to share that with the person I care for.

“I learnt a lot about myself through the programme. I learnt how to listen to other people, to look more. I’ve been able to delve into my own self and understand me a bit better. I feel more positive and able to listen and think more. I’m more relaxed. I’m better able to take control of things.

“Creativity is so integral to my mental and physical wellbeing. If creativity isn’t there life can be so sterile. It enriches and nourishes your soul and wellbeing.

“The project didn’t just develop a skill in one area, for example photography, it also inspired creativity in lots of other areas and things you do. It’s such an amazing outlet – it teaches you life skills, which you can use all the time. This programme finishing is a beginning, not an end.”

This article is from 2016.