Summer Arts Project
I had a really interesting and positive meeting today with regards to project managing an arts inclusion project for the young people I work with.
As some may know (others may not), I work with young people who are being supervised by the Youth Offending Service and the reasons why they find themselves there are too inumerable to mention but the crux of the matter is that they’ve been convicted of a crime and that’s all there is to say.
The purpose of the project is to develop a structured 5-6 week programme over the summer and to positively engage and raise awareness of the arts. The main ethos is to lower offending but at the same time to broaden the young people’s perception of what they can do in a creative and imaginative way. It will also give them the chance to get some qualifications.
The project is financed by the Youth Justice Board but as of yet I haven’t made a decision as to whether I want to do the project and so I haven’t written a bid yet. It’s going to entail a tremendous amount of work and planning especially as the target group are those on DTO licences and ISSP. So potentially it’s the group who are most difficult to engage but that’s the enjoyment of the work I do. Trying to make contact with those who have a deep mistrust (a lot of time rightly so) of adults, authority and institutions.
At present I’m just thinking of what arts groups and organisations I can use as they need to have a proven record of working with young people and especially with those who are the most challenging. I’m also thinking about how to incorporate all the social media tools that are out there and use them in a way to engage the young people and for them to engage with life in a way that isn’t a whole load of people telling them what to do.
I’m off camping tomorrow in Snowdonia for the weekend and it will be a good opportunity for me work through in my mind a rough programme and structure of the project.
If anybody has ideas or even know of arts groups who may be interested then feel free to email me or comment on the blog.
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