Tag: Community Partners

Creativity & Wellbeing Week 2021 – a conversation with Jenni Regan from London Arts and Health

Posted on November 3, 2021 by - Blogs

Jenni Regan and the London Arts and Health logo

Creativity & Wellbeing Week 2021 – a conversation with Jenni Regan from london Arts and Health

Jenni Regan and the London Arts and Health logo

Jenni Regan is CEO of London Arts and Health, and curates the annual Creativity & Wellbeing Week festival. We spoke to her about the Week, and why she believes creativity is important for health and wellbeing – for us as individuals and society at large.

“Art is for everyone and is a fantastic preventative measure against ill health.”

Jenni Regan

Can you tell us about Creativity & Wellbeing Week – who it’s for, its purpose, who is involved?

Creativity and Wellbeing Week (17-23 May 2021) is in its 11th year this year. It started as a small festival for the arts and health sector and has grown into a UK-wide celebration of the power of creativity on wellbeing. It showcases many brilliant organisations and artists, and provides a chance for the public to try out creative activity. The festival is run by London Arts and Health, and the Culture, Health & Wellbeing Alliance came on board in 2019 to take the festival UK-wide.

creativity and wellbeing week

Can you tell us a little about London Arts and Health?

The charity started out as a small, member organisation. We’re still dedicated to our members, who are mainly arts and health practitioners but are now an Arts Council “National Portfolio Organisation” and the leading sector support charity in London. We advocate for arts and health, work with policy makers, and bridge the gap between the arts and health worlds. We have worked on increasing the resources we offer over the past year, producing a number of digital tools to support our members. The coronavirus pandemic was incredibly hard for many of them.

Why do you think Creativity & Wellbeing Week is important?

Primarily it’s a chance to put arts and health in the spotlight and highlight some of the fantastic work going on across the UK. It’s a great leveller and puts grassroots organisations on the same stage as the larger, better funded cultural institutions. The benefits of creativity on wellbeing are still not as well-known as factors such as exercise and eating well, and we want everyone to be able to experience what it can do to support a healthier and longer life.

We know that those who face barriers to accessing arts and culture are often the same people who would benefit greatly. You don’t have to be a ‘creative’ person to benefit from taking part, and you don’t have to have an illness or disability. Art is for everyone and is a fantastic preventative measure against ill health.

How is creativity linked to wellbeing?

Over recent years, there has been a growing understanding of the impact that creative or cultural activity can have on health and wellbeing. Accessing the arts and culture – and more generally working with our own creativity using our imaginations – can improve our health if we have diagnosed mental or physical health problems. But it is also good for our health and wellbeing more generally, and for the health of our communities and society.

The arts can reduce stress and increase social engagement as well as providing opportunities for self-expression. Many describe it as a mindful experience or an escape from everyday life. It’s not just about the activity: people tell us that taking part combats loneliness and isolation. Taking part in creative activities can also help us make more sense of our emotions and the world around us and can encourage us to build our own narrative.

lambeth young carers inspired_arts comic-making workshop create live

What does creativity mean to you personally? Has it had a particular impact on you and your wellbeing?

I am a bit of a convert! I always thought that art was not ‘for me’. After all, as a straight-A student I scraped by with an E in my GCSE art. But of course, creativity is not about being ‘good’ or painting masterpieces. My creative passion is writing, I write fiction and as well as publishing a couple of books I now also use writing for my own wellbeing and try to write something daily.

Are you involved in any personal creative projects at the moment that you’re excited about?

I am writing the second draft of my latest book, which has clearly been influenced by my job! I usually write thrillers but this has turned into a heart-warming story where nobody dies. It also involves an abandoned asylum and the discovery of an outsider art collection in the basement.

I’ve also been running Writing for Wellbeing sessions for the past few months. I’ve been volunteering to support asylum seekers in London over the past year and these sessions include some asylum seekers and people from my local area. The way we all view subjects such as travel and friendship are so different and we are all learning from each other. This has become my regular way of having a bit of escape as I am a full participant.

How do you feel the pandemic has affected people’s attitudes towards art and creativity?

It’s really interesting how people have quite naturally turned to creativity during the pandemic, particularly during the full lockdown, when people were asked not to leave their homes. All the usual coping strategies such as exercise and nature were suddenly not available to people, and so we saw them taking part in online drawing classes, lockdown choirs and watching culture from the sofa.

For many, lockdown has made it easier to take part in creativity. Those who find it hard to leave the house have been able to take part from the comfort of their homes. Of course the pandemic has also highlighted the digital divide. Cultural organisations have responded by offering physical creativity packs for some sections of society.

Do you feel that art and creativity are given enough space in our culture? Is it championed enough?

Definitely not. This is really highlighted by the recent government proposal to halve the funding for arts subjects in further education. We have also seen a continuing decline in secondary school arts provision.

We know that arts subjects are not just a ‘nice’ addition to the curriculum, they encourage self-expression and creativity and can build confidence as well as a sense of individual identity. Studying arts subjects also helps to develop critical thinking and the ability to interpret the world around us.

In 2019 the arts and culture industry grew by £390m and was worth £10.8bn a year to the UK economy. Of course, the coronavirus pandemic has had a catastrophic impact on this, and it’s even more important that we invest in the next generation. We also have a huge issue of diversity in the arts and health sector. If children from a privileged background are the only ones receiving arts education, we are unlikely ever to see a level cultural playing field.

What could be done to improve this?

Investment in the arts! But also there is a role for the culture sector to shout about what we do and to reach out to the next generation, creating opportunities and making the arts – and in particular arts in health – a viable career choice. As a charity we are working on ways of doing this. There is some hope with the growth in popularity of “social prescribing”, where activity is prescribed instead of or alongside conventional medicine.

“We know that arts subjects are not just a ‘nice’ addition to the curriculum, they encourage self-expression and creativity and can build confidence as well as a sense of individual identity. Studying arts subjects also helps to develop critical thinking and the ability to interpret the world around us.”

Jenni Regan

Social prescribing has been championed by both the Department of Health and NHS England in its Long-Term Plan. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, spoke about culture and creativity in relation to social prescribing in November 2018 at the King’s Fund. He said: “The arts can help keep us well, aid our recovery and support longer lives better lived.”

However, many social prescribers have been focusing traditionally on basic needs such as housing and finances. This is changing as there is a growing realisation that taking part in creative activity increases health and wellbeing to the point where addressing basic needs is easier to manage for the patient. As a charity we have been championing cultural social prescribing and are beginning to see social prescribers seeking to add arts and cultural activities to their offering.

What do you think about the work Create does?

I have been lucky enough to take part in a Create writing workshop, delivered to people with dementia, which was brilliant. It is really inspiring to see a charity working with so many different art forms and with such a wide variety of users. I think Create has done so much to make arts and health more mainstream on a national level, which has benefited smaller organisations.

My favourite project, and one I think many should emulate, is creative:connection where disabled and non-disabled young people are bought together to work with professional artists. I have worked on reducing stigma in mental health and for the refugee community through previous roles and current trustee roles, and the key is always to bring people together to share stories and experiences.

I think the idea of nurturing new artistic talent, which is a major initiative for Create, is also key to championing arts and culture going forward. Again, this is something more organisations should be aiming to achieve.

Visit the Creativity & Wellbeing Week website

Using creativity to help young people with mental health illnesses

Posted on November 3, 2021 by - Blogs

a sculpture made by a young person living with mental health illnesses

Using Creativity to help young people with mental health illnesses

a sculpture made by a young person living with mental health illnesses

creative:tandem is our multi-artform programme empowering children and young people who have a serious mental health illness. For four years, we have been delivering projects at Snowsfields Adolescent Unit at Maudsley Hospital in South London. Our professional artists have been using creativity to help young patients develop their artwork and social skills, a creative means of increasing self-expression, self-esteem and confidence.

After a short pause during the COVID-19 pandemic, the project resumed this year over the Easter holidays via our Create Live! delivery mechanism over Zoom.

We spoke to Dionne Monarch, Lead Occupational Therapist Inpatient CAMHS and Day Patient Co-ordinator at Snowsfields, and Charlotte Ellis, Occupational Therapy Apprentice, about their work at Snowsfields, the value of creativity for the young people on the ward, and their experiences of Create.

“For somebody who is struggling to focus, being creative can be really centering”

Charlotte Ellis

Who do you work with?

Charlotte: We work with young people aged 13 to 18, with a range of diagnoses and symptoms. We often have admissions who have attempted to take their own life and feel like they can’t control those urges. We have young people with symptoms of psychosis, who may be experiencing delusions or unseen stimuli, and some with really low mood – very low depressions, lack of motivation to eat, lack of motivation to get up. We also have young people who are admitted with enduring manic episodes, and others with OCD-like symptoms. They come to us when they can no longer continue as normal and need a break for some treatment.

Dionne: At any one time, we don’t necessarily know who’s going to come through the door. They’re often the most unwell young people that you’ll come across, because they need to be in hospital. They might come against their will. These days, we see a lot more self-harm, and suicidal young people, things like eating disorders, OCD; and young people who struggle with relationships, who have often had a lot of trauma in their life.

a bracelet made by a young person living with mental health illnesses
A bracelet made by a young person at Snowsfields during a Create project

HOW DOES BEING CREATIVE BENEFIT THEM?

Dionne: I have worked with adolescents for about 21 years now, so I’ve seen a lot of young people over that time. I noticed very early on how creative they were. With young people, they don’t always have the language to describe what’s going on for them. They don’t know how to put it into words. But often they can do it through a creative route. The more tools you give them to be able to express what’s going on, to talk to you about what’s going on for them, the better.

Charlotte: Art groups are always really popular on the ward. There’s less expectation involved, as opposed to having a very formal conversation about how they’re feeling. When using materials like clay – we’ve done Create workshops with clay before, and jewellery – it’s very sensory orientated. They might not even create something at the end of it, it’s just about using the materials, and experimenting with them and feeling them in your hand and having a new experience. For somebody who is struggling to focus, it can be really centering. It can also bring on a huge sense of achievement when they do complete something. When they learn a new skill. The ward can be quite a routine and confining place: we ask the young people to stick to a schedule: you wake up at this time, you have medication at this time, you eat at this time and you eat the option of food we’ve given you. A lot of choice is taken away from them. But in creativity, they’re given so much choice to embrace.

Dionne: Each year we’ve had about five Create projects over the holiday periods. The holidays when you’re in hospital are really long: you’re stuck in hospital and all your friends are outside doing nice things. So the Create projects are ideal because we can offer them something a little bit special. When we get offered things like this, we jump at them. We have a regular programme that we provide, but it’s always special when you can add things to it, and work with professional artists. Someone coming from the outside and offering them some expertise really adds to their experience.

WHAT DID YOU GET UP TO DURING THE CREATIVE:TANDEM PROJECT THIS EASTER?

Charlotte: It was a four-day project and, because of the pandemic, we had the artists on a big projector screen with two iPads at either end. We did something different every day. We did a paper project at the beginning, where it’s one picture on one side and one picture on the other side. This was really fun, because it allowed a lot of freedom. We had a young person who just wanted to draw and draw and draw and draw. This is the first group he came to on the ward, and everyone was really impressed with how long he could sit down and focus on just drawing.

Read this case study

On the second day we decorated tote bags with spray paint and stencils. Some of the young people were very measured, and some got very experimental with all the materials. It was really nice, they had opportunities to be creative in different ways and how they wanted to do it. And the artists were really good at allowing them to express themselves, which is really key in an environment where lots of people struggle with lots of different symptoms.

The next day, we made sketchbooks, and the young people were allowed to fill them with whatever they wanted. You don’t often get given a notepad and told you can fill it in one day. So they enjoyed that.

On the last day we did weaving, which was really cool. It was a brand new skill for a lot of the young people. And quite a delicate one. This was really great. When the session was over, some of the young people stayed for another hour, and kept weaving. One of our young people really took that on and continued to do it.

weaving made by a young person living with mental health illnesses
An example of weaving during the Easter creative:tandem workshop

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT CREATE’S WORK?

Dionne: I think Create is amazing, I really do. I have three organisations that I would never not want to be in contact with: The Young Vic, Hospital Rooms and Create. They’re my top three I’ve ever worked with in my 21 years. To be able to work with Create, it gives us something to look forward to, it transforms our programme, it takes it to another level. I don’t worry anymore about the holidays, because I know we’re going to be doing amazing things. As an organisation it’s just so well run and managed. I always have trust in Create, I know that everybody’s well trained and very professional. It means that we can relax a little bit because we know that Create is going to take the lead, and it’s going to be really high quality. And we know that the young people are always going to engage with it.

Charlotte: It is so valuable, having professional artists who come in and share their skills with our young people. It makes them feel special. We have so many young people with aspirations of being creative or having careers in the creative industry. By meeting artists who are making a career out of it, and who really love it, they see it as something that they can accomplish themselves. The materials we get are really important too. That might sound like a small thing, but our budget is really small. Being able to offer young people quality materials, and a lot of them, so they can do more than one – if they want to make more than one pot in a day, they can, they can make four or five. It just shows them how valued they are.

Read two case studies from our creative:tandem project

Read an interview with Dr Richard Corrigall from Snowsfields

creative:tandem is supported by:

postcode community trust logo

John Horniman’s Children’s Trust
The Fitton Trust

a sculpture made by a young person living with mental health illnesses

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METRO’s Nicola Jones shares the impact of creative arts projects on LGBTQ+ young people

Posted on November 2, 2021 by - Blogs

Nicola Jones from Metro charity

Nicola Jones from Metro Charity shares the impact of Creative Arts projects on LGBTQ+ young people

Nicola Jones from Metro charity

We teamed up with equality charity METRO to deliver a six-week zine-making project from January to March with young LGBTQ+ people aged 16 to 25. Following two successful in-venue projects, we are delivering this one virtually via Create Live!.

In these workshops, supported by Greater London Authority via Groundwork, the participants are working collaboratively under the guidance of our writer Linden McMahon to create a zine on the theme of ‘Pride and Protest’. This has given them space – across February’s LGBT+ History Month – to discuss the legacy of Pride and what it means to live as a queer person. It has also enabled them to connect, build skills, explore new ways to express themselves, and share their experiences through writing and visual media.

We spoke to Nicola Jones, METRO’s Youth Lead for Croydon and Southwark, to learn about how the pandemic has affected her work with LGBTQ+ young people and the therapeutic potential of creativity.

“I think people have the perception that all young people are fine with ‘LGBT stuff’ now. They’re all fluid, it’s all over Instagram and Tik Tok, but it absolutely depends on so many factors, like where you grew up, how your parents feel about it, the area you live in, do you appear visibly other, do you get harassed on the street, and so on.

Hear Nicola talk about how our workshops run in partnership with METRO are connecting LGBTQ+ young people during the pandemic

“The youth groups are amazing. We do a lot of sessions that are around exploring and affirming identity and representation to counter the lack of those things at school, in the media, and the wider world, so that young people don’t feel so alone and don’t internalise the idea that they’re not normal. I think young people who access our groups over a long period of time tend to be the most vulnerable ones.

“I am so grateful that Create makes these sessions possible. I could endlessly talk about how amazing it’s been.”

Nicola Jones, Metro Charity

“We do a lot of workshops with Create because creativity is a really great way to provide support. You can make a PowerPoint about mental health issues but young people get enough of that kind of education at school. It’s been so amazing to have external workshop providers come and give them experiences and perspectives that they wouldn’t have access to otherwise. I am so grateful that Create makes these sessions possible. I could endlessly talk about how amazing it’s been.

metro charity quote bubble

“We’re currently running a zine-making workshop series with Linden McMahon via Create Live!. It’s been very different going from such incredible engagement in real life to running workshops online. So many young people who were accessing our groups regularly are either completely fatigued with Zoom, as many of us are, or they don’t feel comfortable being on camera. So, we send them out a zine pack with magazines, nice paper and pens, and things like that so they have stuff to read at home, do collage, and submit something to the zine. We can’t overstate how important that is for a young person.

“The zine-making sessions have been so great because people can do photography or draw or write or work in any way they like to express themselves. It’s a way for them to be involved and engaged. It has a wider impact than the number of people in the actual session. Linden is also really amazing at creating a very supportive, safe, chilled, lovely vibe.

“Working on a creative thing in the same space as other people and sharing can be really powerful. There is another young person who is incredibly vulnerable, particularly during this pandemic. They created a zine during the week and they shared it with us. It was so incredible! I think having an outlet where some of that stuff can go is really important.”

METRO runs LGBTQ youth groups for under 25s in many London boroughs. Visit www.metrocharity.org.uk to find out more about their work. To find out more about METRO’s youth services visit metrocharity.org.uk/youth

Click here to read about our photography project with METRO led by Holly Revell.

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Krista Sharp from MYTime on working with Create

Posted on October 28, 2021 by - Blogs

krista sharp from mytime young carers

‘THE FEEDBACK WAS EXCEPTIONAL’: KRISTA SHARP FROM MYTIME ON WORKING WITH CREATE

krista sharp from mytime young carers

Create partnered with MYTime Young Carers in Dorset to deliver a photography project via Create Live! at the end of May 2020.

MYTime’s Executive Director Krista Sharp (pictured) tells us about the organisation’s work, how they have adapted to the pandemic, and what it was like teaming up with Create.

“The opportunity to be creative is hugely important for everyone and it’s particularly important for young carers.”

Krista Sharp, Mytime

WHO ARE MYTIME?

MYTime Young Carers supports young carers and their families across Dorset. We work with children aged 5-18 who provide care for a member of their family.

Two-thirds of young carers say that they are bullied in school, and they regularly report feeling isolated from other children their age. The Children’s Society reported that young carers achieve nine grades lower on average than their peers.

Our work is hugely important. We bring groups of young carers together, giving them the opportunity to spend time with people who are experiencing the same sorts of things they are. This combats some of the isolation they can feel and gives them the chance to develop lasting friendships.

Young carers are incredibly selfless and compassionate. They are used to putting others’ needs before their own and this can impact their own life chances. We support these young carers to ensure they have access to opportunities, friendship and support, which will enable them to go on to live happy and successful lives.

COVID-19 DISRUPTION

During the pandemic, our young carers have experienced a significant increase in the care they are providing at home, as well as increased stress and worry around their own and their family’s health. COVID-19 has had a major impact on our normal provision for young carers.

We have had to cancel all our face-to-face activities and all stays at our R&R Retreat Centre. We had a whole series of young carer activities booked for the Easter and May school holidays, which would have provided our young carers with a break from their caring responsibilities. Sadly, all of these were postponed.

We have completely adapted our provision for young carers by creating an online programme called MYTime at Home. We have created and shared a huge variety of short respite activities for young carers on our YouTube channel and set up an online Zoom young carer youth group. MYTime has also started a food delivery programme for young carers and their families who are struggling to access the basic necessities and are unable to access any government support.

TEAMING UP WITH CREATE

young carers mytime online artwork

Nicky Goulder (Create’s CEO) saw some of the work we were doing via our MYTime at Home programme and contacted me to discuss the work the charity had been doing, and the online Create Live! service that it had developed as a response to COVID-19. Nicky was extremely passionate about this work, and the value of bringing communities together during the pandemic.

When she described the format of a photography project delivered via Create Live!, it sounded fantastic. I knew immediately it would enable the young carers not only to learn a new skill but also spend some time with other young carers.

Our workshop was a three-day photography project with Alejandra. She was absolutely fantastic. She was able to teach our young carers a huge amount about creating beautiful and interesting photographs. They were encouraged to work in groups, giving them the chance to get to know one another and learn from each other.

They were able to form friendships with other young people who are going through a similar experience during COVID-19. It also taught them photography skills that they can now carry with them moving forward, and enabled them to explore their own home environments and to see them from a different perspective.

The feedback we received from the participants and their families was exceptional. After the project, one mother wrote to me to say: “It all brought a tear to my eye. The creativity and ideas produced in ONLY three days, without specialist photography equipment and all far apart, was just AMAZING! I think all the children will feel now that they have had a very special collaboration with others. I think you have sparked a new interest in the children for some that shall last a lifetime.”

They all really enjoyed the sessions, working with Alejandra and the team from Create. The participants have all stated they would like to be involved in another project were we to partner with Create again.

THE POWER OF CREATIVITY

young carers mytime online artwork

The opportunity to be creative is hugely important for everyone and it’s particularly important for young carers. It allows young carers the chance to express themselves in a way which they might struggle to do if they were asked to put it into words. It also gives them the chance to see themselves differently.

None of the young carers who took part viewed themselves as photographers at the beginning of the project. By the end, they all said that they saw themselves as artists now, which is just incredible! One of the young carers has now developed a keen interest in photography and is looking to pursue it further.

The photographs that the young carers took were so incredible and of such high quality. We’ve asked each to share their best photograph with us, which we are going to have framed and displayed on the wall at our R&R Retreat Centre.

We are definitely going to work with Create again. The team are fantastic, the project was extremely well organised and supportive of the young carers needs.

A huge thank you to everyone at Create! You are absolutely brilliant and we would thoroughly recommend working with you to other organisations looking to involve their beneficiaries in the creative arts.

This project was supported by Arts Council England using public funding from the National Lottery.

arts council england logo

Read an interview with photographer Alejandra on her experience of running a Create Live! workshop.

Visit the MYTime Young Carers website.

Carers Week 2020: Create’s commitment to carers

Posted on October 28, 2021 by - News, Blogs

carers week 2020 young carers create live screenshot

CARERS WEEK 2020: CREATE’S COMMITMENT TO CARERS

carers week 2020 young carers create live screenshot

This week is Carers Week, and we are eager to add our voice to help raise awareness of the amazing, often unheralded work done by young and adult carers across the UK.

We are committed to empowering carers across the UK – both during the pandemic and beyond – with creative arts projects that reduce isolation, build skills and confidence, provide a break from caring and enhance wellbeing.

THE STATISTICS

Before the pandemic, there were an estimated 9.1 million unpaid carers in the UK – and the coronavirus has added an extra 4.5 million people to this figure, all of whom are caring for older, disabled or seriously ill relatives or friends during the pandemic. Before this crisis, the economic value of carers’ contribution was an enormous £132 billion per year, and more than a third – 35% – of unpaid adult carers say they are often or always lonely. Can you imagine the effect that lockdown has had on all of these people?

Of these carers, an estimated 800,000 are classed as “young carers” under the age of 18, more than a third of whom report that they suffer from mental health problems. A recent study found that children and young people are likely to experience high rates of depression and anxiety during lockdown and long after it ends. Young carers are particularly vulnerable, and creativity can provide them with a vital lifeline: a chance to express themselves, build skills and enhance self-esteem, aiding wellbeing.

OUR WORK WITH CARERS

carers week young carers artwork
A landscape sculpture from one of our online workshops with young carers

In 2019/20 our professional artists delivered face-to-face creative projects with 410 young carers across the UK, providing them with a creative and social outlet away from their caring responsibilities. Create was recognised with the Children & Young People Now Young Carers Award in November 2019 for this vital work.

Our projects with adult carers, meanwhile, helped them to explore their creativity while taking a break from their caring responsibilities, building trusting relationships with other carers who understand their situation, and building confidence and new skills, such as music or collage.

We were working to extend our projects with carers in 2020 when the coronavirus lockdown forced us to postpone all of our workshops.

Just 14 days later, following rigorous planning, consultation and trial runs, we launched a new delivery method – Create Live! – through which we are now delivering our programmes virtually. We are in the process of rolling out photography, visual art, drama, music and dance projects with young and adult carers and other vulnerable children and adults across the UK, reducing their sense of isolation during the pandemic.

Our Chief Executive, Nicky Goulder, explained: “We were devastated when the pandemic forced us to postpone our workshops, and knew we had to adapt as quickly as possible. There was no alternative. We exist to bring people together to reduce isolation, develop creativity and enhance wellbeing. Thanks to the flexibility and dedication of our artists, staff, funders and partners, Create Live! came together incredibly quickly, and we are seeing impressive results. Being able to empower, upskill and bring together our participants to enjoy creative self-expression and meet new people has never been more important.”

Krista Cartlidge, Executive Director at MYTime Young Carers, which is a new partnership that has been established since lockdown happened, commented: “We loved working with Create to deliver an online photography project with our young carers in Dorset. It was a resounding success. The participants were encouraged to create incredible, thoughtful photographs, and it was fantastic to see them so proud of their work and listening to each other. It is absolutely crucial that young carers are given the opportunity to take a break and connect with one another at this time and the Create project was a brilliant way to do this.”

One of the parents reflected: “The creativity and ideas produced in ONLY three days, without specialist photography equipment and all far apart, was just AMAZING! I think all the children will feel now that they have had a very special collaboration with others. The photos were all so clever, interesting, beautiful. The photo where everyone reached out to another person was quite moving. It was a joy to see my daughter so enthusiastically running around finding objects and then showing us her work.”

Following the successful launch of Create Live!, we will be using this mechanism to deliver our programmes until it is safe once again to bring our participants together into the same physical space for workshops. In this way, we will continue to reach young and adult carers during the pandemic and beyond.

Create Live! online drama project with James Baldwin

Posted on October 28, 2021 by - Blogs

james baldwin running a create live drama workshop
james baldwin running a create live drama workshop

CREATE LIVE! ONLINE DRAMA PROJECT WITH JAMES BALDWIN

Create Live! is Create’s online, interactive project initiative developed to reach participants during the lockdown, offering a creative lifeline to the most vulnerable children and adults in isolation. Over three days in April 2020, Create’s professional theatre maker/writer James Baldwin delivered an online drama project with young carers from Ealing and Hounslow.

We spoke to young carers who participated, Create artist James, and Brentford FC Community Sports Trust’s Young Carers Project about the online drama project.

CREATE ARTIST JAMES BALDWIN

James Baldwin

“Keeping the work rooted in the principles of face to face workshop is central to developing a workshop for Create Live! delivery. The key is flexibility and being able to think on the spot.

“Throughout the planning of the workshop I was asking myself “why are we doing that game?” and “what are we trying to achieve?”. Making a group connection is tricky when you’re disconnected physically. So, it’s important to prioritise things that might seem small but make the participants feel comfortable.

“The young people were interested in so many things: COVID-19, power dynamics, global warming, magic. Being able to harness all these ideas as a facilitator and enabling the young people to write a script about the things that matter to them, but also offers an element of escapism, is important.”

Read the full interview with James.

Hear the young carers perform their drama with James Baldwin

YOUNG CARERS

Feedback from young carers about the online drama project.

“I really liked the One Minute game and doing the acting. It was an excellent workshop.”

“In all parts [of the workshop] I tried to think outside of the box even in Pictionary. In the making of our story I used more of my imagination. I also used my imagination to cry when we did voice acting for the recording.”

“I enjoyed working with others as everyone had a different personality and I feel like everyone had a great time. It was nice to see people’s faces even if it was just through an app. I think the way Create did it was very good and very productive for everyone.”

“[James] is very funny. He’s light-hearted and isn’t afraid to be out there and bold.”

BRENTFORD FC COMMUNITY SPORTS TRUST’S YOUNG CARERS PROJECT

Reflections from Kathryn Sobczak – Young Carers Project Coordinator. The Project provides support and advice to young carers living in the boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow.

“The social interaction side of this project was crucial, even more so than usual. Many of our young carers are more isolated than ever without school, particularly if their parent can’t leave the house. This session offered the young carers a creative release and enabled them to talk to their friends and in some cases make new friends.

“The young people were encouraged to look at the stories from their own perspective and the work was completely led by their ideas. They worked together to create the story, teamwork was encouraged throughout and the young people shared their ideas with each other.

“The young people’s confidence and self-esteem grew over the three days. The drama games allowed them to become more comfortable and the smaller groups enabled them to grow in confidence. The young carers were very happy with the final piece of work and had a real sense of accomplishment.”

james baldwin hosting the online drama workshop
james baldwin hosting the online drama workshop

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Meet Fatama from Surjamuki Project in east London

Posted on October 14, 2021 by - Blogs

Fatama is a Project Worker at Surjamuki Project
Fatama is a Project Worker at Surjamuki Project

MEET FATAMA FROM SURJAMUKI PROJECT IN EAST LONDON

Between January and March 2017, Create partnered with with Surjamuki Project in east London to deliver a 12-week creative project with young people with disabilities. Fatama is a Project Worker at Surjamuki Project. This is her experience of creative:connection.

“Our young people have been working with Create’s project with woodwork, artwork and film. I can think of so many examples of them enjoying the project. They enjoyed every second. There was not one thing that they did not enjoy.

“Today they just completed the film. Wow, they could act! We’ve done role play in the past, but putting it into action in a video and in a film, that’s something new for us. They got everything together, you guys worked really hard with them; I thought it was a really nice adventure. As soon as you talk about the film, there’s a big smile on the young people’s faces.

“Some of my young members never did anything in woodwork because they were too scared of the cutting and everything but when they started working with Create’s project they really enjoyed it. Now they’ve enjoyed it so much that we’re planning to do something like that in the future again. So I would say if I had to rate that project one to ten, I would say 100% ten.

“I believe everybody deserves the chance to do something creative. My young people learned to work in groups and it gives them the opportunity to socialise. Some of my young people don’t socialise with other young people, the only socialising they do is when they’re doing some activity like this.

“I have one young person – when she started here, she used to be very quiet, not talking to anyone at all because she went through a really hard time in life, and when she started with us it was one or two words, that would be it. And now, after the projects that they’ve done with Create, she’s socialising more with the young people around her, talking more, laughing more. She wakes up extra early just to come to us, her mum was saying. So things like that, they mean a lot to us.

“A young person with autism who loves his routine, when he started with Create, the first two projects, he thought: ‘No, I don’t want to do something new’. But then the more he came, the more he enjoyed it. Now he enjoys it and he’s learnt how to deal with a bit of difference. So three different projects we’ve done, and three different changes and he adjusted to it straight away, and that’s something we picked up on. We were shocked, and that’s something new for a young person at Surjamuki.”

This article is from 2017.

Carers Week 2016: Newham Carers Network

Posted on October 13, 2021 by - Blogs

Newham Carers Network
Newham Carers Network

CARERS WEEK 2016: NEWHAM CARERS NETWORK

For Carers Week 2016 Create is celebrating its amazing carer friendly partner organisations. Today we’d like to introduce you to Newham Carers Network, which we’ve worked with since 2012 on a number of multi-arts programmes for young and adult carers.

Newham Carers Network delivers a wide range of information, advice and support services to anyone who provides voluntary support on a regular basis to a family member or friend who experiences ill-health or disability. It strives to provide support to all carers and their families to ensure that they receive all the services they are entitled to. This includes carers being assessed in their own right and as part of the decision making process of the person they care for, as well as activities, training and events for carers.

creative:release

Create has run creative:release with Newham Carers Network since 2014, thanks to funding and volunteer support from international law firm, Reed Smith.

A survey commissioned by Revitalise in 2015 found that 40% of carers expressed fears about social isolation and 80% worried about what the future holds. We designed creative:release to provide adult carers with a creative and social outlet away from their caring role, and they have experienced visual art, photography, film-making and storytelling workshops to date, with ceramics planned for later in the year. The programme enhances Newham Carers Network’s services, enabling carers to develop supportive relationships with their peers, build self-confidence and self-esteem, engender a sense of empowerment and take a break from their caring responsibilities.

meet florence

Florence (not her real name) is a former carer who took part in creative:release. She looked after her mother for just over six years towards the end of her life and eventually moved in with her:

“When I was a full-time carer, I felt like I didn’t have a life. I had two and a half hours a week where somebody was paid to come in and sit with my mother. That more or less gave me time to rush off down the road and get repeat prescriptions for her. One month, my only social contact was with my dentist.

“Caring is a difficult life and I lost contact with a lot of people. You need to put time into relationships but that’s something I didn’t really have. I didn’t get out much at all but I was supported by Newham Carers Network. When my mother died I thought that caring wouldn’t be part of my life any more, but I’ve kept that link with the carer service because it has such an important role in my life.

“I’ve found my voice through Create’s arts programmes. Even when I feel a bit out of depth using technology or new techniques, I still feel comfortable here. Just to be exposed to new things helps because we can get trapped inside our own little shells.

“I share everything I learned whilst I was caring with my mother with the other carers in the group so that they can benefit too. I think, caring or not, it’s important in life that everyone feels useful.”

This article is from 2016.

Carers Week 2016: Richmond Carers Centre

Posted on October 13, 2021 by - Blogs

Richmond Carers Centre
Richmond Carers Centre

CARERS WEEK 2016: RICHMOND CARERS CENTRE

For Carers Week 2016 Create is celebrating its amazing carer friendly partner organisations. Today we’d like to introduce you to Richmond Carers Centre (RCC), which we’ve worked with since 2014 on our inspired:arts programmes for young carers.

As RCC’s website explains, young carers are children and young people under the age of 18 who take on practical and/or emotional caring responsibilities often beyond their years. These can include anything from cooking, shopping and housework, to the administering of medication, assisting with personal care such as washing or dressing, interpreting, physical and emotional support, or looking after siblings. Young carers’ roles are often overlooked: respondents of a study by The Carers Trust in 2015 showed 50% of young carers as feeling unsupported.

RCC is a charity that addresses this, acknowledging the work that young carers undertake and offering free, confidential information to help those living in or caring for someone within London’s borough of Richmond. RCC provides a range of services for the young carers that attend: its 11+ Young Carers Social Group offers an informal and fun peer support group for registered young carers of secondary school age, with sessions giving the opportunity for individuals to share personal thoughts and feelings, encouraging group discussions and collective activities. Siblings between the ages of 5 and 11 sharing caring duties also have the chance to spend time with one another away from the domestic context of responsibility in RCC’s ‘FRAME group’ – an after school group where they can come together for a variety of activities, be it cooking, crafting or creating art. Outside these group settings one-to-one support is available through RCC’s mentoring programme, where a safe space for individuals to talk to a Young Carers Support Worker can be facilitated, either at school or at RCC’s centre.

Create’s collaboration with RCC through our inspired:arts programme builds on the support that RCC offers young carers. Through creative workshops led by our professional artists, young carers forge relationships and support networks, helping to build new skills and confidence and enjoy valuable “me time”. Since our collaboration’s inception in 2014, Create’s artists have led a wide range of creative workshops including music, photography, animation, creative writing, drama, visual art, jewellery and costume/set design.

Chloe’s reflections

We spoke to Chloe Cooper, one of our animation artists, about a three-day inspired:arts project she led last October. The young carers explored various forms of animation, fashioning their own thaumatropes and flipbooks, as well as scripting, shooting and editing Halloween-themed, animated short films.

Chloe said: “We had a great time together. The RCC staff were really supportive and got stuck in – even decorating the room for our Halloween screening. The young carers were fantastic – they were so creative – they had amazing ideas for characters, story lines and editing. They were really ambitious and made fantastic animations. When it came to the screening they shared what they’d done with their families with real pride.”

Create’s partnership with RCC continues this year, with forthcoming inspired:arts projects on the horizon in August, continuing to February 2017.

For more on RCC, head to their website for their activity schedule, an informative blog, and a list of useful resources for young carers.

This article is from 2016.

Carers Week 2016: Carers Milton Keynes

Posted on October 13, 2021 by - Blogs

carers milton keynes 2016
carers milton keynes 2016

CARERS WEEK 2016: CARERS MILTON KEYNES

For Carers Week 2016 Create is celebrating its amazing carer friendly partner organisations. Today we’d like to introduce you to Carers Milton Keynes, which we’ve worked with to run inspired:arts programmes for young carers since 2014.

A young carer is someone aged under 18 who regularly helps look after someone in their home who is physically or mentally ill, disabled or misuses drugs or alcohol. This could be a parent or a sibling. These responsibilities can impact on the young person’s wellbeing and many young carers struggle to juggle their education and caring role, causing pressure and stress.

The Young Carers Service in Milton Keynes supports approximately 515 young carers by offering advice and signposting, youth clubs, school holiday activities, targeted workshops, one to one emotional support, advocacy and representation and residential breaks.

inspired:arts is a multi-arts programme for young carers, which enables them to take a break from their caring responsibilities, build trusting relationships with their peers and develop creativity, social skills and confidence. During previous inspired:arts programmes in Milton Keynes, young carers have collaborated on original pieces of drama, short films, jewellery making and even designed a sculpture to accompany the iconic concrete cows that were in residence at intu Milton Keynes.

Research released by Carers Trust this week shows that whilst many carers felt supported, a significant number of children with caring responsibilities face barriers that result in poorer grades, reduced career prospects and increased mental health problems. Carers Trust statistics showed that 45% of carers in school struggle to get their homework done on time and a quarter of young carers are bullied because of their caring role.

Gail Scott-Spicer, CEO of Carers Trust, said: “The figures are quite shocking. These are children who are struggling to do their schoolwork during the day time and then heading home to look after their own mum, dad, brother or sister, in the evening.

“Young carers are vulnerable pupils. If they are not supported, the help they provide to their families can become too much and put their own life chances at risk. Schools, colleges and universities have a vital role to play in ensuring young carers are identified and supported. Understanding their caring responsibilities, making sure the family has the right support and offering some flexibility can be the difference between a young person dropping out or completing their course.”

Russell Hobby, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “Failing to support young carers is simply failing them. Schools can play a vital role in identifying and supporting young carers, and in helping these exceptional young people to succeed.”

Meet Maria

Maria (not her real name), one of the young carers from Carers Milton Keynes who took part in inspired:arts, has cared for her father since she was three years old. She said:

“I care for my dad because he has bipolar and severe depression. I feel like I don’t get to go out as much or do as much as other people my age. In school it can be hard to concentrate sometimes because I’m always thinking about what my dad is doing. It can feel like you’re picked out of the crowd when other people know about your life at home.

“I enjoyed working with professional artists during Create’s project. They have taught me how to use a video camera and how to take different shots. I’ve also learnt new painting techniques, how to create pieces of jewellery and how to build a sculpture.

“Getting to work as a team was the best thing about the project because you’re not just one person; you get to hear everybody else’s point of view. I’ve made quite a few friends through the project with Create. It’s been great to see them again at each workshop.

“I think projects like inspired:arts are important for young carers because they take us away from that role and let us be children for a little while. The general public know that young carers exist but I don’t think they understand what we have to do. They don’t take us as seriously as adult carers.”

For more information on Carers Milton Keynes head to their website.

This article is from 2016.