Creativity4Health Good Practise Guide & Project Report

GOOD PRACTISE GUIDE & PROJECT REPORT Creativity4Health 2007 - 2010

Contents Foreword: .................................................................................................................... 3 Helen Mason Creativity4Health Co-ordinator .......................................................... 3 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 4 Creativity4Health Aims and Objectives .................................................................... 5 Developing the Creativity4Health Vision ................................................................. 6 Facilitating Creativity4Health Projects ..................................................................... 7 A Snapshot of Creativity4Health Delivery ................................................................ 9 Creativity4Health - What went well ......................................................................... 14 Creativity4Health – What didn’t go well ................................................................. 15 Training the Foster Carer Trainer ........................................................................... 16 The role & contribution of the creative consultant ............................................... 18 Creativity4Health and the importance of the Arts Award ..................................... 19 Sustaining Creativity4Health ................................................................................... 20 Project Partners and Steering Group lead contacts..............................................22 Creativity4Health Creativity Postcards...................................................................23

This report was collated and written by Helen Mason with contributions by Helen Le Brocq and Juliet Brain and edited by Stuart Mogridge

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Foreword: Helen Mason Creativity4Health Co-ordinator For the past three years I have had the privilege of co-ordinating Creativity4Health on behalf of our lead body, OYAP Trust (Oxfordshire Youth Arts Partnership). Being the co-ordinator for Creativity4Health was a dream job for me as an adult care leaver because it gave me the opportunity to draw on my experience and insight to help local authorities develop creative opportunities for looked after children and care leavers. It is through this role that I have had the opportunity to work with 18 South East local authorities and in this respect work alongside some amazing, dedicated individuals in health, social care and youth services without whom Creativity4Health would not have been possible. In the past three years the project has reached approximately 2000 looked after children and young people and 300 foster carers. As you read this summary you will see that we have developed some fantastic resources along the way such as our website www.creativity4health.com; a train the foster carer training guide1 and creative postcard resources2. I hope you enjoy our summary of the work as much as I have enjoyed my role.

Warmest regards, Helen Mason

Young person from Brighton & Hove taking part in an arts workshop at Lewes Festival Photo by David Sutherland

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See page 16 See page 23

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Introduction Creativity4Health has been an exciting and ground-breaking three year project funded by the Big Lottery Fund (BLF) well-being programme in the South East and Arts Council England, South East between 1st January 2008 and 31st December 2010. The project was designed to encourage and enable looked after children and young people and their carers to take part in creative arts and creative activities to improve emotional health and wellbeing.

The term „looked after children and young people‟ (LACYP) is used in this document to mean those looked after by the state where the Children Act 1989 applies. Creativity4Health is one of 62 projects which formed part of the Chances4Change Programme. The aim of this programme has been to readdress the hidden health inequalities in the South East. Chances4Change received £5.6 million from the BLF to promote physical activity, healthy eating and improve mental health across the region. This was managed by NHS South East Coast. Creativity4Health has been managed by the lead body, the OYAP Trust. Creativity4Health as also been hugely well supported by Government Office South East (GOSE).

Creativity4Health has enjoyed the benefit of having the support of 18 South East local authority partners who have facilitated creative art activities which have been aligned to the BLF strand of mental and emotional health. The overarching aim of Creativity4Health has been to improve the mental and emotional health and wellbeing of looked after children and care leavers through the participation in creative art activities. Within this approach local authorities have encouraged and supported foster carers to mutually participate in a range of creativity activities alongside their foster children, thereby fulfilling the aspirations voiced by looked after children in the Care Matters Green Paper consultation response.

Throughout the Creativity4Health project we have continued to promote the value of the Arts Award. Therefore, young people and care leavers have been consistently given the opportunity to participate in the Arts Award and as a result many young people have achieved accreditation. In the last year of the project we have been able to commission a creative consultant to create and deliver a “Train the Foster Carer Trainer” resource. Also in the last year we have commissioned creative designers to create a website structured around the concept of creative arts at home (Creative Kitchen) and we have also disseminated thousands of creative activity postcards across the South East region as a resource for foster carers.

We come to the end of this fantastic project on the 31st December 2010 but and we have just held our big celebratory arts party which took place at the London Design Museum on the 29th October 2010 for all children, young people and care leavers who have taken part and hopefully this will have given them the opportunity to further showcase their talents. We are very grateful to Kevin Skinner and his team at KSL for a successful party.

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This document is our contribution to the knowledge base of professionals, practitioners and carers working with looked after children and care leavers across the UK. We have complimented this report with an evaluation by looked after children, young people and care leavers of their participation. We would like to take the opportunity to share our experiences, learning and insights gathered through facilitating creative arts and activities in the hope that Creativity4Health will provide a legacy of improving mental and emotional health and wellbeing through creative arts and activities.

Creativity4Health Aims and Objectives Creativity4Health‟s vehicle for delivery has been our 18 local authorities in the South East who have received a small pump priming grant of either £3,000 or £4,000 (depending on whether the authority was unitary or shire). In addition to receiving this grant local authorities were also given two days of creative consultancy, as well as resources such as our website, foster carer training, young people‟s postcard evaluation tools and networking opportunities. In return, our partners have been asked to: i) Develop a range of creative activities involving children in care, care leavers, foster carers & residential carers to encourage physical activity & well-being. ii) Encourage carers and social workers to support the involvement in creative activities by their children in care. iii) Encourage children in care and care leavers to participate in the Youth Arts Award programme and hopefully achieve their bronze award. iv) Build effective local working arrangements between local Children‟s Services, care providers and arts officers and creative arts providers. Each participating local authority facilitating creative art activities were asked to involve the following in their local activities:     

12 carers or residential care staff 4 different creative artists 25 children in care or care leavers 25 others as audience members 4 children in care or care leavers in gaining Arts Awards3

In addition to these objectives, each partner was asked to match fund their pump priming grant, for example; contribute match-funding to local activities which may be in terms of staff time, venue, transport or communication costs.

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Arts Award is a national qualification which supports young people to develop as artists and arts leaders see page 19 5

Developing the Creativity4Health Vision We asked partners to promote good health and wellbeing in their activities wherever possible, to identify LACYP and health and wellbeing needs and design projects which would improve mental and emotional health. We also asked them to look to promote and develop mutual activities with foster carers and their families which would increase social interaction, involvement and empowerment for both groups wherever possible.

Each participating local authority was asked to interpret the concept of improving health and wellbeing through creative arts from their local perspective. They were asked to design, develop and deliver a project that was unique to their local authorityâ€&#x;s understanding and needs of their LACYP and foster carers. We found that the perception of improving health and wellbeing through creativity was largely influenced by the professional discipline of the local authority lead, e.g. social work, education, health, youth work etc. We also found that the interpretation of Creativity4Health was also shaped by the inter-departmental relationships around LACYP and how robust their relationships were with creative external partners and providers.

For Creativity4Health partners who adopted the lead role through their social care teams, they found that access to looked after children, care leavers and foster carers to get the project off the ground was not as difficult as their youth service colleagues or participation workers. For our partners in the virtual school headteacher role, we found that the promotion of the Arts Award was a key driver in their interpretation of the project. For our designated nurses, health was the impetus and for our third sector social care providers, sustainability was an issue.

Partners were most successful in creating a joint vision when they had direct, as opposed to indirect, relationships with LACYP and their foster carers.

Where it has been less successful is when the LA leads have had to broker access to their beneficiaries through different departments who might not have clearly understood the aims and objectives or timescale of the project.

Creating a joint vision for Creativity4Health depended on a number of variables being in place. Firstly, having a range of colleagues and partners around the table who had decision-making authority and the capacity to support the project was important. But more important was that they could access existing relationship with foster carers and LACYP. Creating an effective and efficient joint vision was also made possible when the lead Creativity4Health partner had previously established relationships with partners and providers and could find people in authority willing to contribute their skills and abilities. Having direct access to foster carers and LACYP and not being reliant on another colleague or partner for brokering these relationships ensured most projects got off the ground quickly.

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In addition, Creativity4Health partners found that the visioning process at the beginning was far easier when the Creativity4Health project had been endorsed and supported by their senior management. Harnessing the support of senior management was often dependent on how well Creativity4Health had been sold at the beginning e.g. how it could improve the health and wellbeing of LACYP and the benefits of foster carer participation.

Local authorities said that getting a vision and project in place was far simpler when they had a yardstick of projects/practice to measure against and better still when there were creative providers with the capacity and capabilities to contribute to the Creativity4Health project quickly and affordably.

Lastly, establishing a local vision for the Creativity4Health project was also dependent on the experience and tangible outcomes of other visioning exercises for LACYP, such as creating the LACYP pledge, charters or Children in Care Council visioning documents with partners. Having familiar processes and experiences to steer practitioners and ensure that LACYP were not only at the centre as beneficiaries of the vision but had played a part in shaping the project at this stage. In this respect, exercises to encourage active participation around visioning such as using puppets to create and articulate visions, DVD, animation and newsletters had proved an invaluable tool for getting everyone on the same page and on board with the project plan. Local authorities also found that previous need analysis with foster carers and LACYP around creativity had been a really useful source of data for informing the vision for the project.

Having clear ideas about the wants, interests and aspirations of LACYP was a fundamental tenet of the vision.

Facilitating Creativity4Health Projects Each local authorityâ€&#x;s interpretation of Creativity4Health, creative arts and/or creative activities to improve health and wellbeing differed hugely across the South East. This diversity was encouraged throughout the stages from expression of interest, ongoing creative consultancy, foster carer training, Creativity4Health website and picture postcards.

Local authority interpretations of how to improve health and wellbeing using creative arts was often built on their collective understanding of creative arts, the health and well-being needs of LACYP and what their beneficiaries had previously told them that they wanted and needed. They also relied on previous consultation findings that would tell them what activities would encourage and motivate young people to continue to participate in creative activities independently.

They were also mindful of the gifted and talented young people who might take part and then go on to make a transition to creative arts in a vocational capacity. Wherever possible we encouraged local authorities, through training and support, to be able to facilitate access to the Arts Award for young people.

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Similar to the visioning process at the beginning stages, setting up the project was also dependent on their wealth of experience in facilitating creative activities with LACYP and foster carers, whether there were fixed processes for engagement and partnership working, systems for safeguarding and risk assessment in creative arts and creative partnerships in place holding a shared history and legacy of working together.

Partners also told us that having the energy and enthusiasm to make the project work (termed as “buy-in”) was fundamental in getting Creativity4Health projects off the ground. So too was identifying the strengths, skills and creative abilities amongst their staff teams because they said their contributions would be invaluable to complimenting the small grants they were given and so this form of active participation was really crucial to making it work. Telling and selling a creative project well to colleagues, partners, foster carers and senior management had really ensured that there had been a strong platform on which to build the project. Having a strong platform, clear vision and direction of travel had enabled them to overcome any obstacles along the way; problems such as recruitment of beneficiaries, identifying suitable buildings, meeting risk assessments‟ criteria e.g. CRB and liability insurance. A range of partnership approaches emerged; some direct inhouse local authority creative provision, some totally outsourced to arts providers and in some it was a mixture of the aforementioned two examples.

In local authorities where there was a history of creative partnership working and the outsourcing of creative activities too, it was found that the Creativity4Health lead partner‟s role became more of a commissioner and coordinator than a direct creative facilitator. The commissioner-type relationship was more of a „long arm‟ approach, bringing their expertise of the beneficiary group to the creative provider such as a local theatre, individual artist(s) or third sector provider with a reputation for creative arts with vulnerable groups.

In some instances, Creativity4Health partners chose to retain and manage the project using their own staff skills and department expertise in creative arts, sometimes using their local authority provision such as gardens, community buildings or youth services. Some local authorities chose a blend of buying-in some provision as and when it was required e.g. a session such as a music workshop at their creative taster day. Fundamentally, partners relayed that all approaches worked well when: i) the small budget was matched by in-kind or financial contributions ii) the forecasted attendance matched the actual numbers iii) volunteer contributions, skills and abilities were provided iv) venues were free or subsidised v) transport or expenses could be provided vi) foster carer families could be included

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vii) artist briefs were clear and they delivered what was asked of them viii) the day matched the expectations of LACYP ix) the project had a diverse (as opposed to single) creative arts approach x) there was something for everybody to participate in xi) everyoneâ€&#x;s contributions and talents were recognised and celebrated.

young care ambassadors from Hampshire participating in the Global Rock Challenge

Isle of Wight, Pantomime

A Snapshot of Creativity4Health Delivery Each of the Creativity4Health local authority partners across the South East had a unique interpretation based on their understanding of the creative aspirations and the health and wellbeing needs of their LACYP. Sometimes, a local authority approach involved taking an existing program or project in a completely new direction. For example, they may have had something that they had been delivering using sport as their vehicle for delivery but they have then taken this and reshaped the approach using creative arts. Some local authorities may have chosen an existing vision or plan such as their Children in Care Council pledge and decided they would like to help young people to articulate the pledge through creative arts such as recorded animation. Some local authorities may have chosen to do their annual awards or celebration event using a solely creative approach. The general approach by local authorities was to set their course of delivery by asking themselves: Where can we be creative? How can we be? How will this improve mental, emotional and physical health and wellbeing? Do young people want to do this? How can we maximise opportunities for them to achieve the Arts Award? How can we support foster carers to mutually participate?

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Creativity4Health partners described the various creative approaches they had used. For example, Brighton and Hove (B&H) have their own walled garden called the 253 garden. They chose to utilise the garden for their Creativity4Health project, thereby blending creativity in the garden with themes such as growing health food, building dens, fire pits and totem poles, making a graffiti wall, taking photographs, having barbecues, making a Scrabble board to convey emotion, bringing in artists and taking work to local festivals and going out for woodland days.

In Southampton they decided they were going to build on their previous collaborative efforts with the charity Dreamwall and their partnership with the Lordâ€&#x;s Hill Academy who also have a farm. The school provided the venue and resources they needed and were exceptionally generous and accommodating. Dreamwall very sensitively tailored their provision around creative art themes. There was a whole day structured around a series of three hour workshops such as street dance, magic, music (such as DJing) and drama. Both LACYP and their foster families attended the event. Many people in the staff team contributed their skills and talents and everyone had a role to play on the day.

In the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) they facilitated a series of animation workshops so that they were able to produce an animated film of their experiences of being in care. These workshops taught people a range of film techniques such as stop motion animation, camera use, photography, lighting and sound. They also facilitated other workshops for pottery, drama and dance etc. All of the workshops and the performances were showcased at the annual celebration event and foster carer conference later in the year. RBWM used a lot of artists from outside their authority.

In Medway they concentrated their project around producing an arts exhibition called “Care Matters I Matter� and during the project lifetime 25 young people produced over 40 exhibits to showcase at their public art exhibition venue.

Exhibits consisted of portraits, sculptures, collage, chalk drawings and glasswork such as a symbolic glass doll with limbs missing to depict self harm. The exhibition was really well-received by professionals and the general public and it received rave reviews.

On the Isle of Wight (IOW) the project was committed for the whole year to preparing and then performing the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk. The pantomime had a modern interpretation around children in care making an effective transition to adulthood. The children in care council engaged in a wide range of performance-related workshops throughout the year such as makeup, costume, lighting, singing, dancing, acting, stage management, costume and prop making. This included foster carers contributing and participating in the event. The pantomime was filmed and put on a disc.

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During the past year in Kent, 248 LACYP and their carers from around the county have taken part in creative events as part of the Creativity4Health initiative. A variety of events took place during the year starting with a taster week in October half term 2009, which was followed up with a continued focus on encouraging engagement in creative activities by facilitating new and existing initiatives including drama productions, music workshops, arts and crafts workshops, a visit to a museum and activity days out where photography and drawings captured the scenes.

Portsmouth ran a Creative Fun Day which offered a wide range of activities such as electronic music making, record your own ring tone, street and Latin dance, pottery, jewellery making, Christmas card making, material bag printing, circus skills, make your own photo frame and a digital photography workshop. The wide range of activities was very effective and met a range of interests.

In Oxfordshire they facilitated a foster carer picnic, made a DVD of the Hill End activity week used to elicit views of young people on Creativity 4 Health issues, facilitated poetry workshops provided through the Turville activity weeks for young people, facilitated a range of group activities for young people including dance, drama, music, pottery, climbing wall and slam poetry based on feedback from young people. They also went to huge efforts to embed the concept of Creativity4Health through their Hill End Festival that year.

In Bracknell Forest they utilised their celebratory event opportunity to raise the profile of the importance of creative arts to improve health and wellbeing. The event was hosted by councillors for LACYP. At the event they offered a range of taster sessions and workshops to LACYP and their foster carers and promoted what creative activities were available locally for young people to continue to pursue their creative talents.

In Buckinghamshire they hired an outdoor education centre called Green Park and facilitated a whole weekâ€&#x;s worth of creative arts taster sessions which included music, dance and fitness, animation, photography and video filming.

The week provided LACYP the opportunity to complete the Arts Award and was a collaborative effort led by a virtual school head teacher.

In East Sussex the C4H project was led by the placement support service that provide holidays for looked after children. Their project was tailored towards the Arts Award and they managed to get 15 young people through the award during the project. The main creative emphasis was on drama workshops culminating in a final performance for young people. East Sussex are trying to reconfigure a lot of what they do using a creative approach e.g. the Children in Care Action Day Conference used a puppet show to deliver the information to young people in a creative way. They held an allotment day

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and used arts and crafts, along with a team party and harvest festival theme with bonfires, to create a beautiful ambience for discussion and team building.

In addition, young people are going out on theatre trips such as Blood Brothers and really broadening their cultural experiences. East Sussex say now that they have started thinking creatively they can‟t stop!

In Hampshire their Creativity4Health project was a „Creative Summer School‟.

It was a continued partnership between the local authority and the University of Winchester Aim Higher Team, the aim being to raise the aspirations of LACYP to go on to university or, at best, encourage them to think about university as an achievable opportunity.

In West Sussex, the Creativity4Health project consisted of three art forms: a series of Graffiti Art workshops held in the evenings; a week of music workshops run over October half term week and the production of a DVD to promote the Children in Care Council and inform young people entering care of the services available to them. Foster Carers were actively involved in the workshops. West Sussex has engaged an independent youth-friendly arts group to deliver the Graffiti Art and produce the DVD and they used the Youth Arts Centre in Crawley to facilitate the music workshops.

In West Berkshire they also used the Children in Care Council pledge as their vehicle for the Creativity4Health project. They concentrated on a series of workshops that would support the consultation, design and implementation of their pledge. They used animated plasticine to represent the care stories of young people and they used drumming workshops and music production and film to also help get key messages across. They included foster carers and their families in the workshops to help lay down a Children in Care Pledge track conveying the needs and wants of LACYP to their corporate parent.

In Surrey they concentrated their creative efforts in partnership with their youth development team towards singing, rhythm and percussion. They especially wanted to follow the model used by the Sing Up program which promotes vocalisation. Surrey worked with a range of tutors and musicians to raise the self esteem and motivation of LACYP. They offered workshops throughout the summer in singing and percussion and targeted the asylum seeking population of children and young people. They also had an Oscars ceremony with LACYP whereby young people were recognised for their talents and given an Oscar statue in recognition of their creative abilities.

In Slough they concentrated their efforts on a Creativity4Health fun day which took place over the summer. It involved 7 foster carers‟ families and 20 young people attended. It was well-supported by partner agencies such as health, Connexions, Slough YP Centre and the Prince‟s Trust who all had information stands. Carers and young people participated in the following activities: street dancing, break dancing (facilitated by funkstylezers), graffiti art, healthy eating

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(facilitated by Kitchen Kred), African drumming, drama and theatre workshops (facilitated by Dramatic) and healthy food collage (Prince's Trust volunteers).

They also launched their Creative Garden project after the fun day and they were able to secure some funding from O2 towards this. Since then Slough have been able to recruit a core group of volunteers from O2 to start their garden off.

In Milton Keynes their Creativity4Health project focused on taster sessions in dance to recruit interest amongst young people followed by weekly dance sessions and culminating in a final dance piece. For those who didnâ€&#x;t dance they participated in a calendar competition (project managed by a foster carer) for children to take a photo of their „happy place' which will be used on a calendar for 2010 to be distributed to foster carers.

In Reading they ran a dance programme with a group of Afghani young Asylum Seekers who were in care in Reading. This programme lasted 8 weeks and the young men all really enjoyed it and have indicated that they want to continue attending the project. Therefore, when the Refugee Council ran an Alternative World Cup event in London at the end of June, the Afghani young men decided they would like to enter it. Consequently, Reading ran a 6 week training programme for them during May and June before taking them up to London. Just the experience of going to London was great for them as they had never been there. All this time their English was slowly getting better but staff were always having to find creative ways of explaining what we were trying to do. In September Reading started up another dance programme in preparation for performances running at an October event. In November and December they ran a Ready Steady Cook programme to help LACYP gain some skills for independent living after they have to leave the care system.

They are working in teams of two learning different cooking techniques and how to make money go as far as possible when food shopping, as well as learning about healthy living and how to read the information on food packaging to make informed decisions about what foods are healthiest. Prior to Christmas 2010, Reading held a competition event where all the teams cooked a creative three course meal for two people with carers, siblings, youth workers and LACYP support staff there to judge the food prepared.

Reading has also had three staff from their service who have participated in the Arts Awards training and they be will running the Arts Awards during the Ready Steady Cook program.

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Creativity4Health - What went well By and large, Creativity4Health projects went well, in terms of their design phase, when the leads had been able to get together a small advisory/steering group of people who had enthusiasm, creative ideas, financial and in-kind contributions available, could make decisions, had forged relationships with creative partners and providers, had access to LACYP and/or foster carers so that they could consult them and identify first hand the needs, wants and requirements of LACYP in relation to their creativity and health. Often these groups had clear benchmarks of creative projects they had either previously done in their individual teams or together.

The next phase, from design to implementation, went well when partners were able to financially match fund their Creativity4Health grants or attain in-kind contributions from partners in terms of staffing, buildings, creative resources or publicity support. In relation to marketing and PR, project leads found that clear marketing of what they were trying to achieve was crucial to recruiting LACYP and foster carer participation. They said that it was fundamental to have a clear concept of how creativity could improve wellbeing and to „tell and sell‟ this well to their target audiences. They reported that getting foster carers on board was paramount to securing the accessibility of the LACYP especially during the out of term time creative exercises. Therefore, being able to articulate to both groups of LACYP and foster carers „what was in it for them‟ often went a long way in securing the continued support and participation of these groups. Local authorities used a range of existing marketing processes such as foster carer newsletters, e-bulletins to other teams, leaflets and flyers, alongside word of mouth opportunities at meetings with colleagues and networking events with carers to present Creativity4Health. Through these approaches they were able to effectively consult on the project plans and recruit the participation required.

What also went well was sourcing available creative activity providers as well as utilising opportunities to recruit volunteers such as students who were undertaking degrees in appropriate courses to provide the creative sessions.

In-kind contributions such as volunteering was invaluable to the stretching of the project‟s finances. Partners reported how surprised they were to find so many creative skills amongst their colleagues and their foster carers who were only too keen to facilitate a taster session in their chosen creative area.

Schools and academies provided the ideal settings for taster sessions and events and there were occasions when local authorities got venues completely for free. Gardens, farms and outdoor woodland spaces too provided fantastic open air opportunities to be creative especially for large groups and groups who really wanted to feel a sense of ownership over outdoor space. Brighton & Hove particularly reported on the transformational nature of their garden space in relation to LACYP feeling they had a quiet space which was their own. Oxfordshire also reported that their therapeutic 14

horticulture project reaped dividends for their beneficiaries in relation to garden crafts but also in learning to produce their own fruits, salads and vegetables using complimentary therapeutic approaches. Some projects worked well with universities as was the case in Hampshire and others with virtual schools as was the case in Buckinghamshire and they were able to integrate creative activities with a more structured learning approach and an emphasis on accreditation. Whatever the model, all partners reported that commitment, collaboration and contributions were invaluable and that not one person was left to lead, co-ordinate and try to implement alone.

Creativity4Health – What didn’t go well Creativity4Health partners reported that, at times, they were over-ambitious in trying to complete the Bronze Arts Award on top of the work they already had planned. Even though they had recognised that the participants did most of the necessary requirements, they still struggled in trying to set aside time to complete scrap books/portfolios of evidence, often in short amounts of time and this proved very difficult for some projects.

Partners also found it difficult to communicate across departments, to schools, to arts providers and to foster carers as they found there wasn‟t a single streamlined approach established for LACYP. What they found was that often even the departments that had LACYP as a cross-cutting theme, that it was difficult to get space on their agendas, recruit them to volunteer on establishing creative projects and gain access to some of their funding was difficult in the timeframe of one year.

Partners also reported engaging foster carers was difficult if they had to broker access through another department and were reliant on them relaying information. Helping participants overcome geographical boundaries, child care needs and expenses was also difficult if a department was not familiar with the adult carers‟ needs and requirements. Partners also found retention issues a problem, for example keeping children and young people and their carers on board during times of placement instability.

Partners reported that trying to sustain the creative approach beyond their grant timeframe went less well because there were a number of systems to navigate such as the Personal Education Plan (PEP) or the Positive Activities personal support route and long term brokerage to creative activities was far more difficult without a funding stream to support it. By and large, problems were generated because of the obstacles in the local authority structure and not necessary with external agencies and providers who were only too willing to support the work as long as they were able to afford to.

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Training the Foster Carer Trainer The vision for creating a training session for foster carers came from an initial Creativity4Health training day delivered in 2009 in Surrey by Helen Chambers from NCB and theatre designer Mary Robson. That session offered a range of simple, creative exercises that foster carers could use to engage with young people and also act as a bridge to accessing broader creative experiences such as joining a dance class or youth theatre, or seeing shows at local theatres and visiting museums and galleries. The chair of the Creativity4Health advisory group, Louise Fenton of Portsmouth City Council, felt strongly that there was a need for something to be offered via Creativity4Health to foster carers that helped endorse the key messages of the project, helped them understand the importance of creativity on wellbeing and the value of creative activities for young people and be more confident in using creativity and accessing it. There had already been discussions about „food art projects‟ springing out of Healthy Eating initiatives and the title and metaphor of the „Creative Kitchen‟ was born out of creative consultant, Juliet Brain‟s vision to provide a familiar and appealing environment for foster carers to explore creative activities.

The issues and perceived barriers that came out of the 2009 session were around timing e.g. foster carers having limited time to spare, particularly with children in school and providing a session that foster carers felt would be worth giving up their time to attend. We talked to foster carers, managers and social workers about what was already on offer and the potential challenges to offering yet more training. After this consultation, we designed a package that would offer foster carers, social workers and management staff with an interest in creativity and/or the arts, the chance to attend an informally-run session timed to fit within the school day (approximately four hours) that would give them the skills and confidence to pass on all or part of the session to others but would also be a positive experience that left attendees with a feeling of wellbeing and an understanding of why creativity is important.

People attending the initial „Creative Kitchen‟ session would metaphorically be put in the kitchen, given the equipment, food and a chef to explore, develop and create leaving them confident to pass-it on. „Creative Kitchen‟ was piloted with two groups, Southampton and Eastbourne, and feed back was extremely positive. Foster carers enjoyed the opportunity to talk to managers and social workers in an informal setting where everyone was on a level-footing. Everyone came away with a sense of well being and was encouraged by the session to continue and develop their use of creativity both at home and in their work with young people. There was an opportunity to plan ideas for embedding creative sessions in forthcoming events and to troubleshoot obstacles to this, such as buying materials.

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It was also important that potential attendees had good pre-session information so that they could make an informed decision about giving up their time to attend and fully commit to the session. It was also noted that the venue for these sessions was very important; it should be accessible, light and spacious. Ideally this would be an inspirational space such as an arts centre, gallery or non-work space. „Creative Kitchen‟ is an informal yet structured session lasting four to four and half hours (depending on breaks required) that could run alongside food projects, foster carer group events or family days and it is versatile to the needs of the group. It is fun, visually stimulating and hands on, accompanied by support resources in the form of a toolkit and it links in with the Creativity4Health website as another supporting resource. The toolkit was highly valued in the feedback and will be available as a downloadable pdf on the Creativity4Health website. The toolkit is in two parts; firstly, there is a practical guide with information and templates with a walk through of a short creative session that could be used as the basis for a „pass it on‟ with a list of resources and websites. The second part is the creative cookbook, a compilation of creative activities that can be used as both a reference and a stimulating piece for trying out new ideas or new takes on old ideas. Some of these ideas are also on the website, with an invitation for people to add to the „pot‟ and contribute their own ideas.

All of the participating local authorities were offered the chance to host one of seven „Creative Kitchen‟ sessions between November 2010 and March 2011.

We hope it will encourage similar sessions and encourage local authorities to look at how they can embed „creativity‟ in their offer.

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The role & contribution of the creative consultant The role of the creative consultant was to provide local authorities with specific support to identify, develop and implement their Creativity4Health project, aligning the overall aims of the project with those of the specific local delivery aims which each local authority in the scheme chose to develop.

Three creative consultants worked across the18 local authority partners in the South East; 

To hothouse ideas and generate inspiration and enthusiasm for possible projects

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To help shape the projects and support the strategic development of sustainable partnerships around them

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To help new partnerships establish clarity of communication and expectations

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To advise and give guidance on the used of the Arts Awards as part of the projects

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To help ensure that the aims and objectives of the Creativity4Health initiative are being met through the projects

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To help local authorities and partners reflect on the outcomes of the projects and plan their next steps

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To gather case studies of good practice in this field

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Ensure correct training requirements are being met and possibly deliver additionally if required

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To act as a critical friend, with a high level of creative expertise

The most important thing that the creative consultant did was to assess the starting point of each local authority at the outset of each project; whether they were already experienced in this kind of work and to challenge partnerships to take the work in a new direction or whether they were starting with a completely blank sheet of paper and had no previous experience of working creatively with their children in care. In each case there was a remit to develop a sustainable approach to this working, with a legacy of new partnerships with external organisations as well as leaving a strategic internal group who had the responsibility for shaping the individual project and ambitions, as well as continue the work after the life of the Creativity4Health project. The creative consultants were able to help develop ideas for projects and look at the practicalities around proposed projects with an emphasis on overcoming any problems at the planning stage.

All of the creative consultants were able to signpost local authority leads to arts organisations

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and creative practitioners working locally as well as support the strategic delivery of the Arts Awards – principally through delivering Arts Awards Advisor training or support to advisers delivering the award on the ground. It was also important to have cultural professionals, expert in the setting up and managing of creative projects, present at the Creativity4Health steering group.

It was noticeable that significant progress was made when there was a clear and committed lead officer within each partnership with the appropriate level of authority to plan and make decisions around the delivery of the individual projects.

Creativity4Health and the importance of the Arts Award The Arts Award is a qualification offered at levels 1, 2 and 3 (Bronze, Silver and Gold) on the National Qualifications Framework. Certificates are issued

by Trinity College London and it was a core part of Creativity4Health.

One of the most important elements of the Arts Award for the programme was that it is entirely led by the young person doing the award and it has been designed to be completely accessible to all young people, whether or not they have learning or physical disabilities as well as for those who are not thriving in conventional learning settings. The young person sets themselves their own challenge and then assesses their progress towards this. The award is moderated, but it is not about achieving a predetermined standard or demonstrating that a certain content of learning has been achieved, rather it is a framework within which leadership qualities can start to emerge, career pathways explored and a portfolio of evidence achieved by the end. For some of these young people that we have worked with it may be the only accreditation they are able to achieve and the award recognises all creative endeavour, whether in traditional arts, like drama and music or emerging street art forms, back stage work, behind the camera roles and website or poster design. At the Silver and Gold levels we also see the young person planning and delivering their own community arts projects. The award recognises a journey that each young person goes on that is about their own creativity and it has proved enormously popular with young people and their advisers. A real legacy for the Creativity4Health project will be the newly trained advisors, each working within their own setting, whether that be local authority statutory provision, foster carer, sports or arts organisations, and they will continue to deliver this award into the future.

For more information about the Arts Awards visit www.artsawards.org.uk

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Sustaining Creativity4Health By and large, when we asked our Creativity4Health partners what they needed to sustain their projects, top of their list was funding. You will recall that partners received grants of either ÂŁ3,000 or ÂŁ4,000 depending on whether they were are shire or unitary authority. They said this funding was imperative to levering in not only the departmental support they required but it was also an endorsement by senior management to spend the time and energy required to get a creative project off the ground. Some local authority partners were successful in securing match funding through streams such as the Youth Opportunity Fund which gave them the stretch and value they needed to make a bigger impact. Others were more successful with in-kind contributions such as school or community buildings or resources such as photography and film equipments. Most of our partners said purchasing expertise in the creative arts had been surprisingly expensive for them and in that respect the grant did not stretch as far as they would have liked. Some partners were fortunate enough to align the project with bigger projects in the authority which Creativity4Health really complimented and therefore they could tap into the larger projectâ€&#x;s budget for some of the more expensive overheads. Other projects said they were very fortunate in having colleagues who had creative skills and abilities and who could lead sessions and provide the creative support needed. But it was funding that partners said was crucial in terms of the credibility and endorsement needed to justify their time on the project.

In terms of embedding the concept of Creativity4Health long term, all partners said that the experience had taught them to think creatively and therefore think differently. In their consultation processes they have started to use approaches such as puppetry, animation, role play and fine arts to enable young people to articulate their feelings and wishes to the authority. They found that being creative together with foster families has really bridged old departmental divisions and cultures established separately around LACYP and the foster carers. Having a joint project and a shared vision has really brought two sets of beneficiaries together using a neutral vehicle such as creativity and this is something local authorities want to do again and again.

For example, single celebratory or consultation events will be used to really maximise the mutual aspects of encouragement in creative arts and the recognition of contributions and talents.

In terms of our promotion of Creativity4Health, we hope the website that we commissioned, www.creativity4health.com will be an invaluable tool for accessing a wide range of creative arts to do at home. On this website you will find a range of creative activities structured against the theme of a menu.

The creative starters are taster activities to wet the creative appetite. The creative main course is more fulfilling and ambitious and finally the creative deserts are the feel good activities. The website is our attempt to transcend

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the creative divide between the domestic sphere and community art provision, thereby bringing a wealth of ideas and inspiration to foster carers and LACYP to their own homes. We have found that creativity is a great leveller in relationships and that these relationships can be enriched by creating a deeper trust and rapport and on some occasions the outcome is the development of real creative talents and abilities. The „Creative Kitchenâ€&#x; and our creative postcards can enable foster carers to encourage and help their foster children realise their creative potential and even possibly provide them with a platform of encouragement and fulfilment. It may also provide a real opportunity to foster the creative talents of young people and set a vocational course for them in the future. Sustaining Creativity4Health is more than just providing money, itâ€&#x;s about shaping a new understanding in the minds of adults around the LACYP. An understanding that gives permission to be creative fosters creative ambitions and encourages young people. We believe that creativity can not only improve health but break down boundaries, enrich foster relationships and provide young people with a vehicle to realise their potential.

Scrabble Art, Brighton & Hove

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Project Partners /Steering Group lead contacts: GOSE: Roger Street (Chair 2007/2008) Narinder Whitfield (Chair 2009) Sue Kocaman (2009/10) ACE (Arts Council England): Rose Kigwana Project Partner: OYAP Trust (Oxfordshire Youth Arts Partnership) Project Co-ordinator: Helen Mason, Discern2Consultancy Participating South East Local Authories: Bracknell Forest Council: Jacqui Childs Brighton & Hove Council: Sally Oâ€&#x;Brien/David Sutherland Buckinghamshire County Council: Stuart Mogridge East Sussex County Council: Marion Cooper Hampshire County Council: Morag Currie/Lee Culhane Isle of Wight: Elena Thomas/Pamela Pennant Kent County Council: Sarah Skinner Medway Council: Jo Kavanagh Milton Keynes Council: Hilary Bendle Oxfordshire County Council: Teresa Rogers Portsmouth City Council: Louise Fenton (Chair 2010) Reading Borough Council: Simon Havers Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead: Anna Morgan/Lesley Fitzgerald Southampton Council: Rachel Wheeller Slough Borough Council: Maria Elahee Surrey County Council: Liz Woolford West Sussex: Maggie Foster/Maralyn Smith West Berkshire: Joy Jenkins Creativity4Health website www.creativity4health.com Designed and created by ALIVE www.alivewithideas.com Creative Consultants: Helen Le Brocq, Director, OYAP Trust www.oyap.org.uk Juliet Brain, Artsmonkey www.artsmonkey.co.uk Rosy Prue, CP Programme Manager, UK Centre for Carnival Arts

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Creativity4Health Creative Postcards produced by Alive:

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