Cheshire Young Carers Christmas Programme Review 2020

CHRISTMAS PROGRAMME PROJECT REVIEW 2020

627

HOURS OF ACTIVITIES FOR YOUNG CARERS

TOTAL OF

310

PARTICIPANTS

33

EVENTS OVER

4

WEEKS

627 hours of fun activities

WINTER WONDERLAND ACTIVITY PACK

22

CHRISTMAS PROGRAMME PROJECT REVIEW 2020

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

4

ACTIVITY KITS 6 VIRTUAL EVENTS 8 TRIPS OUT

16

YOUNG ADULT CARERS

18

WELLBEING

19

FUNDERS & SUPPORTERS

20

PROGRAMME FEEDBACK 21 GET IN TOUCH 24

33

INTRODUCTION

CHRISTMAS PROGRAMME PROJECT REVIEW 2020

Christmas should be a very special time of year and despite all the challenges this year the staff team at Cheshire Young Carers produced an amazing range of activities for young carers that are reflected in this review of the programme. From a unique online pantomime to a magic show that featured a workshop showing young carers how to perform a few tricks.

As ever the cooking sessions went down a storm with a complete sugar overload!

It all started in early December when the team delivered large boxes of materials to support the various craft activities being organised throughout December. The boxes also contained a lot of treats kindly donated by a variety of organisations that support us.

Once again, the staff team have pulled out all the stops to provide some Christmas fun and cheer for young carers. This review of all the activities shows just how inventive the team have been and everybody at Cheshire Young Carers has been touched by the amazing feedback from young carers and families – thank you, it really does mean a lot to us.

We really hope that the smiles in this review of the Christmas activity programme will generate a few more smiles and happy memories. Hopefully in 2021 we will return to face-to-face activities and the team are already working on some exciting ideas to get together once the rules and guidance allow.

Thank you,

Graham Phillips Graham Phillips Managing Director Cheshire Young Carers

44

33 events over a 4 week period!

55

ACTIVITY KITS To help young carers engage with our Snow Way It’s Winter 2020 programme we were able to offer an activity pack containing many of the materials they would need for the workshops. The activity packs contained all of the craft items needed for the card making session, biscuit cutters to use in both the baking and craft sessions, a recipe book, a bag of snowman soup and festive treats for the Pantomime.

We were also able to include extra activities for the young carers to complete in their own time. These included wooden Christmas decorations to hang on their tree, a snowman dreamcatcher and snow globes, jigsaw and colouring book.

Due to the generosity of some of regular supporters and donors we were also able to include some extra treats and surprises. Thanks to Morrisons Gadbrook Park, we were able to include an advent calendar in each of the packs. The Queen’s School, Chester raised money as part of a nonuniform day in November, and as a result donated over one hundred £10 Amazon vouchers to go in the packs. Along with the vouchers came a very large delivery of chocolate and sweets that pupils had donated. Barbour ABI also kindly donated vouchers for the packs.

“Want to say a massive thank you. B received his box today and to see his face brighten up because somebody sent him something, made a massive difference. B is new to these, we joined just before lockdown and has his first face to face activity coming up. Hopefully, he will settle in and be able to be a part of all the exciting things Cheshire Young Carers offer. An amazing team. X”

186

205 Young Carers received Activity Kits!

ACTIVITY KITS Equipment was also sent to the young carers who had signed up to specialist sessions – wreath making supplies for the young adult carer craft session, face painting sets, acrylic paints and make up for our special make up masterclass on New Year’s Eve. At the end of November the staff team were excited to pack the boxes, these were sorted out into areas and in just 2 days over 180 packs were delivered out to the young carers by the staff team ensuring that all those booked on the programme received them by the 1st of December for the start of the events. Of course, we still had a few more young carers signing up to events which meant that in total 205 packs were delivered.

“Thank you so much. Dan was ecstatic to receive this tonight! I have tears in my eyes! X

719

VIRTUAL EVENTS MAGIC SHOW & WORKSHOP

DEC

1

Our Snow Way It’s Winter 2020 programme had a magical start. Young carers and their siblings joined an interactive magic show and workshop with magician Andy Green. Even in the magic show Andy had different young carers taking part in magic and card tricks and had everyone laughing at some very corny jokes. Before the session the young carers were given a list of basic items needed to learn some magic tricks themselves, this included rubber bands, envelopes, paper, a party cup and kitchen roll. Andy performed the tricks and then explained to the young carers how he had done them so that they could give them a try.

The young carers enjoyed practicing the tricks which they were then able to try out on family members after the workshop.

CHRISTMAS CARD

MAKING

The Christmas card workshop was extremely popular with all ages. As part of their activity packs the young carers were provided with coloured card and envelopes, buttons and gems, washi tape and glue. In the workshop Claire led them through step by step demonstrations for six different card designs featuring Christmas trees, reindeers and baubles. The young carers were able to add some creative flair to make the designs their own and were busy deciding which family member and friends they were going to send the cards to. The pictures sent in by young carers show how careful they were making the cards and we will build on those skills in future workshops.

8

DEC

2

DANCE & SING

DEC

5

During the Autumn programme, Georgia and Donna ran a Singing & Dancing workshop where we discovered some of our young carers’ hidden talents. The young carers were very excited about the potential of doing more sessions, particularly a festive themed workshop. During our Winter Wonderland programme workshop young carers learnt how to sing the famous ‘Let it Snow’ in Makaton! This brought a lot of cheer and excitement as they sang their way into the second half of the session when the young carers collectively choreographed a dance to Mariah Carey’s famous ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’. The session was a great opportunity for young carers to work together and share their excitement for singing and dancing.

FACE PAINTING

DEC

8

Face painting has been one of the most popular sessions since we have started the digital provision. As part of the activity packs the young carers who booked on to this workshop all received a new face painting palette to enjoy as their first ones were very well used!

Makeup artist CourtneyMariaMUA also received the same palette and created a video tutorial for young carers to follow along. Georgia and the young carers followed the video step by step until everybody had transformed themselves into a snowman. The young carers were keen to share their tips that they have learned since the summer and were very excited about the finished look. The video tutorial was also posted to YouTube along with all the other tutorials, so young carers can revisit the videos or follow along in their own time if they missed the session.

9

SALTDOUGH DECORATIONS

DEC

21

In the run up to Christmas the young carers got crafty in the Salt Dough workshop, making lots of different handmade decorations and 3D models. Using the cookie cutters they received in the activity packs, young carers were able to create lots of different festive shapes which were then baked in the oven. In the afternoon session the decorations were painted in pretty colours and delicate details added on to them. The young carers had fun creating personalised decorations to hang on the tree and 3D models of their favourite animals and things from their favourite films. Family members of the young carers also took part in the workshops, a perfect activity to get excited for the Christmas festivities and make special gifts for family and friends.

BAKING: APPLE & CRANBERRY PIES As part of the Wacky Wednesday sessions we were able to talk to the young adult carers about the ideas we had for workshops and trips for the Christmas programme. Everyone agreed that it would be lovely to make something sweet to enjoy but thought that some people did not like traditional mince pies. After looking at various recipes the group decided that we would make Apple & Cranberry Pies. During the workshop Claire showed everyone how to make sweet short crust pastry which was put in the fridge to chill whilst the filling was prepared. The pastry was then rolled, cut out and filled, with the pies put into the oven. As well as the traditional pastry, Claire talked about different toppings that could be used on the pies including marzipan or crumble topping.

Whilst the pies cooked everyone cleaned and washed up, the young carers even enjoyed this part of the workshop as they can chat and share ideas.

10

DEC

23

OUTREACH: HUSKY DOG CENTRE At Cheshire Young Carers, we believe in the positive effects that animals have on wellbeing so try to include this into our programmes. During our winter programme, young carers had a very fun Zoom call with some Huskies and Alaskan Malamute dogs! We were joined by Heather, the founder of Saints Sled Dog Rescue, who taught young carers the history of these precious animals as well as what their charity does to support them. Everybody was very intrigued to hear about the sled dog races across the world, especially when they learnt that some occur in the UK! After learning about the dogs, young carers were very excited to virtually meet the 16 that Heather has at the rescue centre. The session was filled with lots of ‘wows’ and ‘awwws’ and many questions about the dogs. Saints Sled Dog Rescue run fundraising events across the country, where people have the chance to meet the dogs.

Upon hearing this, young carers expressed a lot of interest in attending one of these in the future.

OUTREACH: WELSH MOUNTAIN ZOO

DEC

28

DEC

29

Back by popular demand was our ‘Minute to Win it Tournament’, we played this during the May Half-Term, and it was such a hit that we decided to do it again! Young carers played against each other in a series of challenges, where they had only one minute to complete it or had to keep doing the challenge for a length of a minute.

Challenges were completed using items that young carers received in their activity kits and it got very competitive.

Dressing up as a famous person was definitely the favourite challenge, where we even saw staff dress up! The winners of first, second and third place were awarded with prizes!

11

FAMILY BINGO NIGHT DEC

3

We enjoyed extra festive cheer with our Christmas Bingo, with all the young carers and their families joining in with the festive fancy dress and Christmas jumpers. There was all the usual fun of our regular Bingo sessions as well as the young carers enjoying dancing along to the Christmas tunes and getting extra competitive about winning prizes. It was lovely to have everyone coming together virtually and have a jolly time that lifted the spirits of all involved. Bingo caller Meg got in the festive spirit, in snowman fancy dress and calling out bingo phrases that gave the Christmas cracker jokes a run for their money.

FAMILY QUIZ NIGHT A festive themed quiz filled the homes of young carers with a lot of excitement and it was clear that all the families were going to be very competitive from the start. Using the familiar platform of Kahoot, Georgia quizzed the teams on some Christmas and Winter trivia, with prizes being sent to the winners and 2 runners up. It seemed that we had a lot of experts amongst us when it came to Christmas movies, but a lot were caught out when it came to the history of some popular Christmas traditions. With the leader board being presented after every question, the tension built quickly, and everyone had a lot of fun guessing who would win that week. With Christmas just around the corner, it presented an opportunity to create festive questions and new themes. Prizes were also given out to the winners of the best Christmas jumper competition. Quiz night proved as popular as ever and gave the families an opportunity to interact with each other as well as enjoy some positive family time together.

18 12

DEC

10

FAMILY GAMESHOW After the success of the family Quiz Nights and Bingo, for the last week before Christmas we went all out in our very own Christmas Game Show. The young carers and families joined the staff team in festive fancy dress and jumpers ready for all the crazy festive fun we had instore. We had a total of 3 different games which included a Riddles and General Questions round, Christmas Shopping Higher or Lower Game and Family Fortunes. Each round came with a fun and quirky prize which matched the theme of the round which included a board game, supermarket voucher and a family day out voucher. They weren’t the only prizes up for grabs; the young carers and families had a chance to win more prizes in our 3 mini challenges, which included a riddle scavenger hunt and biscuit challenge. The highlight of the evening was the final snowman challenge.

For this challenge teams had to dress up a family member as a snowman, having to include a hat, food item as a nose and a good snowman shape.

The families loved getting involved in all the fun, and so did all of the Cheshire Young Carers’ staff. With a night full of fun and laughter, the game show was a big success and the young carers and families (and staff!) are excited for the next one.

DEC

17

FANCY DRESS As part of our Family nights we also ran a weekly fancy dress based Christmas & Winter theme.

Many young carers made their own amazing costumes and whole families dressed up as well as the staff. The competition added to the fun, and gave the young carers another way of engaging with the sessions. The winners were delighted to receive voucher prizes.

19 13

MINECRAFT This year has introduced many new ways of delivering that wouldn’t have been possible in a face-to-face environment and Minecraft is a great example. A Cheshire Young Carers Minecraft realm was built on the Minecraft server, this was open for several sessions a week with access granted to young carers via a specific code. In the winter, the virtual land originally built for the young carers had to be extended multiple times because they were enjoying building the space so much! After its success, we decided to revamp the realm in winter style and run more sessions across the festive programme.

Staff built treasure hunts and other games which the young carers loved. The most popular time during the session was where young carers could build freely. To begin with they all built their own houses, and amazed staff with how good they were at the game! Soon enough there was a Subway, Shopping Mall, Archery Centre, Scuba Diving Centre, and Rollercoaster amongst plenty of games made by the young carers! All the young carers involved have claimed ownership of this virtual space they have proudly built together.

MAKEUP MASTERCLASS Following the popularity of the face painting sessions, many of the older young carers had expressed interest in doing a makeup session. We collaborated again with CourtneyMariaMUA for this session who was very enthusiastic to create some makeup related tutorials. For this masterclass the young carers were sent a makeup set containing an eyeshadow palette, mascara, lipstick, and eyeliner to enjoy and use in the session. Courtney created a New Year’s Eve glam video tutorial, creating a smoky eye where young carers learnt tips on blending and how to apply the different products.

The session gave a friendly space for young carers to chat away; chatting about how they had spent their Christmas, what their favourite makeup products are and how they were celebrating the New Year. The video tutorial is live on our YouTube channel to revisit as well, to allow any young carers who missed the session to watch and enjoy the tutorial.

Young carers created beautiful looks and have already made many requests for future videos!

14

7

VIRTUAL PANTOMIME Usually the activity team would arrange lots of days out taking young carers to all the local pantomimes, so with theatres shut we looked for a way to bring the same fun experience to young carers. We were excited to book PantoOnline, a virtual ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ pantomime starring Peter Duncan (Blue Peter, former Chief Scout) as Dame Trott. Young carers received a link to watch the pantomime in their own homes, they were able to join in with the songs and laughter and hear a special Shout Out to Cheshire Young Carers. In their activity packs, the young carers received a ‘ticket’ to the pantomime and a special packet containing snowman soup ingredients (hot chocolate, marshmallows and candy cane), microwave popcorn and sweets for them to enjoy as they watched the pantomime.

PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION To encourage families to share images of their young carers participating in the Winter programme, we relaunched the photography competition which was ran over the summer and was proven to be very successful. Families received a ‘photography competition cheat sheet’ in their activity pack, which included composition techniques that were useful for using a mobile phone to take a good photo. The cheat sheets invited families to send in their images, to be in with a chance of winning the prize. At the end of the programme, Georgia chose the best photo of those received, and the winner has been gifted a professional photoshoot for their family. The competition resulted in many images being sent in from the families, from young carers enjoying the workshops to them playing with their activity kits. The competition was a great success, and our winning family are so pleased to have won their photoshoot which will occur once it is safe to do so under current lockdown restrictions.

6

15

TRIPS OUT DEC

BLUE PLANET AQUARIUM

19

As part of the winter programme, young carers enjoyed a very exciting day out to Blue Planet Aquarium. The aquarium is one of the largest aquariums in the country and home to Europe’s largest collection of sharks, along with many other species of fish from around the world. Young carers also had the chance to see animals they had never seen before including Sea Reptiles, Lizards, Snakes, Caiman, Frogs and Dalmatian Pelicans. The most popular part of the trip was going through the shark tunnel where the young carers were mesmerised to be walking amongst all the fascinating creatures.

This trip was the first trip many of the group had attended with Cheshire Young Carers, and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all. During the trip, young carers had the opportunity to use digital cameras, they were very excited to take photos and show them to their families.

Check out these images from our trip to Blue Planet Aquarium!

BLAKEMERE MAGICAL WOODLAND

DEC

14

The young carers enjoyed a Magical Woodland Walk at Blakemere Village, where the forest came alive with beautiful Christmas lights and music. Everybody wrapped up in their hats and scarves to keep warm whilst we explored the different magical scenes created in lights and models throughout the forest, inspired by festive stories and films. The young carers took advantage of the opportunity to practice their photography skills and tackle the challenges that come with taking photos in the dark, learning how to use different effects and settings to capture pictures of the lights. The young carers had such a lovely time walking through the forest and chatting with their friends who they hadn’t seen in a while. At the end of the woodland trail they said hello to Santa and went home with a bag full of festive sweets and treats and lots to tell their families about their fun night out.

16

7

TRIPS OUT

Check out these images from our trip to Gauntlet Birds of Prey!

DEC

12

GAUNTLET BIRDS OF PREY

After our visit a year ago and an exciting virtual close up tour during lockdown, the young carers were delighted to have the opportunity to visit Gauntlet Birds of Prey Eagle and Vulture Park in person, and see all the different birds and creatures that they met over Zoom. Whilst watching a live outdoor flying show and exploring all the different species around the park, they got to practice their photography skills by being the birds’ paparazzi for the day. All the young carers really loved getting close ups of the birds and trying the catch the best action shot during the flying show. As well as getting close ups with the cameras, the young carers had a behind the scenes workshop, where they were able to see a variety of different owls and birds of prey as they flew around them and walked around their feet. The highlight for many young carers was the cheeky ferret that was playing hide and seek under the benches they were sitting on! The young carers had an amazing time with Gauntlet once again and are very keen to visit again soon.

Check out these images from our trip to Blakemere Magical Woodland!

17

YOUNG ADULT CARERS During the Winter Wonderland programme Young Adult Carers enjoyed...

Bingo

Christmas Card Making Workshop

Magic Show & Workshop

Quiz

Facepainting Workshop

Makeup Masterclass

Welsh Mountain Zoo Outreach Virtual Pantomime

Sweets & Treats Gameshow

Apple & Cranberry Pie Workshop

Wreath Making

Gingerbread Making Workshop Husky Outreach Workshop

DEC

21

The young adult carers (YACs) are always given an opportunity to decide what activities are included in their part of the programme and decided that they would like to make Christmas wreaths. The young carers who signed up to the workshop were sent all of the equipment and materials for the session including a hot melt glue gun, green wreath, dried oranges and orange slices, cinnamon sticks, pinecones and a set of led string lights. In the workshop the YACs were given step by step instructions. First Claire showed them how to open out all the branches on the wreath to make it look full and more realistic. After giving some safety instructions for using the hot melt glue guns everyone glued together bundles of cinnamon sticks and then placed the various decorations on the wreath before gluing them all down.

The last step was to wind the led light strings through the wreath and switch them on. Everyone did a fantastic job, and not only do the wreaths look amazing they also smell of orange and cinnamon. As an extra craft the YACs were shown how to make Christmas trees out of books. Using old books, Claire showed everyone how to fold each of the pages, this was easy but had to be repeated over 150 times to get the book into the tree shape. The trees were then decorated with wooden decorations and buttons. Since the workshop it has been lovely to see photographs of the wreaths hanging on doors, and to hear about more trees being made as Christmas presents for family and friends.

18

Painting

WELLBEING Digital Animation - Winter Wellbeing Tales The wellbeing animations have been successful and informative for young carers throughout lockdown.

The winter months can be particularly hard on our wellbeing, and as this has increased due to lockdown restrictions, we decided to create a new series to broadcast across our social media channels throughout December and January. The Winter Tales series featured popular wellbeing themes from some of our previous videos, such as; Healthy Sleep Routine, the Outdoors and Selfcare Boxes, as well as touching on the effects winter has on our wellbeing such as Impermanence, Setting New Goals and Healthy Physical Wellbeing. The wellbeing videos are told by using images of woodland wildlife, encouraging young carers to spend time outside during the winter months and showing them the positive benefits. The animations use a soft and whimsical approach to the important wellbeing messages. This series of wellbeing videos was made even more special by featuring a voice over done by a different young carer each week. The young carers loved collaborating in creating the videos and have shown them with pride to family members, friends and teachers. They have also gained confidence in reading out loud and used new skills to record their audio which Meg than added to the animations and cleverly edited to make each video fit together smoothly.

Cheshire Young Carers’ staff also delivered some targeted support to young carers and their families with regular contact, one to one support, signposting to services able to resolve various issues, and ongoing interventions aimed at building resilience and improving wellbeing within young carers’ lives. We are extremely grateful for the passion, enthusiasm and abilities of the team throughout the winter programme.

19

FUNDERS & SUPPORTERS Without the support of our generous donors, this programme would not have been possible. We want to thank them for their support, donations and encouragement.

In 2020, our main sponsor for the Winter Wonderland programme has been Children in Need!

THE WINTER PROGRAMME WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE WITH OUT THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF DONORS!

The key sponsor was not alone with all the following organisations providing further funding to support the programme: Barbour ABI Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service / Prince’s Trust Winsford Team DWF Charitable Foundation Frodsham Sings Innospec Cares Morrisons (Gadbrook RDC) Peter Neumark Foundation Planet Environmental The National Lottery Community Fund The Queen’s School The Steve Morgan Foundation The Ursula Keyes’ Trust

WE ARE S O GRATEFU L FOR THE SUPP ORT THAT IS CONSISTE NTLY RECEIVED .

2020

21

WINTER PROGRAMME

Feedback...

100%

PARTICIPANT ENJOYMENT ACROSS ALL SESSIONS DURING THE WINTER PROGRAMME

71%

OF YOUNG CARERS MET SOMEBODY NEW

74%

O F YO U N G CARERS EXPERIENCED SOMETHING NEW

85%

O F YO U N G OULD CARERS W LIKE TO DO ONS I S S E S E H T AG A I N

21 29

WINTER PROGRAMME

Feedback...

We have changed the names – to protect the identity of these young carers.

uch, k you so m n a h t y a s ught a want to day. It bro g it “Hi, I just r e t s e y s r he openin Ebony got n she was e h w e y e to the tear to my ough it. Thank you s. thr red it to u e v li and going e d d n nors, who ha orters, do p lovely lady p u s e h t to all OU!” Thank you nd staff. THANK Y ,a volunteers

“It has been a challenging year, but CYC have made it much more bearable! The boys have enjoyed so much and learnt new skills along the way. Thank you so much to all the team for your hard work, support and smiles throughout the year - delivering an amazing programme in spite of the challenges!”

“Just wa nt to thank yo say Dexters u for Christm as box. He enjoyed opening it yester day.

So very kind.

Thank yo u”

ed iamh receiv N . h c u m SO nse!!

“Thank you it was imme d n a , y a d ri F been her box on thought had d n a rt o ff e the So much not believe ld u o c e w d n lutely put into it a he was abso S . s ie d o o g h” array of nks so muc thrilled. Tha

hard work “Thank you to CYC for all the rting our young that they have put into suppo lly gone above people this year. You have rea ar so much and beyond and made this ye easier to cope with xxxx”

22

28

“Thank you so much for Jaden’s box. He was so excited. Thank you for all the hard work and effort you all put in x”

WINTER PROGRAMME

Feedback...

whole “Thank you so much to the rked so team at CYC. You have wo h the hard to stay connected wit e kids and have dropped off som as amazing things for Christm ked for them. You have also loo ’ve after us parents too when we so needed it and that has been mend appreciated. I cannot recom all you highly enough, you are x” wonderful. Thankyou xxx

“Thank you so much for Lucy’s box. Oh my what can we say, she’s had so much fun, with the crafts in it made gifts for people from some of the items. She said thank you!!! She is quite reserved and only joined during lockdown. It helped her wellbeing more than you could imagine. She is bought Christmas presents with the gift card. She doesn’t join in with many zooms but does really benefit. Thank you so much xxx”

much, ank you so th y a s to t an ught a “Hi, I just w rday. It bro te s e y rs e h g it lucie got e was openin h s n e h w e ey to the tear to my . Thank you it h g u ro s. th and going ered it to u v li e d d n a h who nors, lovely lady pporters, do u s e th ll a K YOU!” Thank you to taff. THAN s d n a , rs e volunte

“Thank you all for an amazing year. Your enthusiasm never dims and I know that Peter and so many others enjoy any time that they spend with you all xx”

r all your o f u o y k ar.

“Than rt this ye o p p u s d and help an adapted s a h m a ities The te ality activ all u q d e r e e deliv ne you ar o d ll e w ll for a xx” amazing

23 29

WINTER PROGRAMME PROJECT REVIEW 2020

CHESHIRE YOUNG CARERS Registered Charity no. 1151399 Northern Lights Business Park, Rossfield Road, Ellesmere Port, CH65 3AW

Tel: 0151 356 3176 info@cheshireyoungcarers.com

www.cheshireyoungcarers.org @cheshireyoungcarers

@CYC_youngcarers

@cheshireyoungcarers

Cheshire Young Carers Cheshire Young Carers