Young people share their lockdown experiences in new digital zine
Corinne Micallef introduces a new collaborative zine created by participants from We Belong – our arts enrichment programme for young people in care
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We Belong
A supportive community and creative platform to empower children in care
We Belong was a programme designed to tackle loneliness by building a supportive community and creative platform to empower children in care, which ran from Spring 2020 to Summer 2021. It was open to young people in care between the ages of 11 and 18 in the London boroughs of Ealing, Barnet, Harrow and Brent.
The arts enrichment programme was co-designed by a group of care-leavers and aimed to:
- Build relationships between looked after children and local authorities
- Connect children in care with each other
- Raise awareness of their experiences and give them a space, platform and voice
The programme was kindly supported by Co-op Foundation, part of the national Building Connections Fund supported by HM Government and National Lottery Community Fund.
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Programme design
The programme was co-designed by a collective of care leavers in partnership with A New Direction in 2019.
Over the course of four creative sessions (March-April 2019) our Care Leavers Collective came together to co-design We Belong. Through creative mapping and research, conversations, creative writing, visioning, arts and project design activities, the Collective produced a series of four project designs. These designs centred on the themes of Healing (or Breathing Space), Creative Expression, Connections and Awareness, which emerged as core to the process and came to serve as the ethos and foundation of We Belong.
When taking part on this programme, I did not know what to expect. This project helped me to build my confidence as I am shy and reserved individual. I met other people like myself from the care system which later developed into new friendships which is nice because I have never had a friend who went through the care system like myself. I learnt new things such as making short awareness videos. Overall it was an unbelievable experience and a memorable happening.
– Member of Care Leavers Collective
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Creative outputs
At the start of the programme, our Care Leavers Collective devised a manifesto of values to underpin the work of We Belong.
In Spring 2020, our cohort of We Belong participants created a short film called ‘Changing Attitudes’ about challenging negative assumptions of children in care.
Following the steps in our We Belong zine resource, participants created their own zines at home during lockdown. Their beautiful art, poetry and creativity can be seen below in the collective digital zine which has been compiled from all their contributions.
In April and June, we facilitated a number of virtual creative workshops as part of our We Belong Online Residencies. Young people were able to choose their own path over the course of a week and take part in a number of workshops with creative practitioners.
You can browse a selection of their artwork and poetry in our online gallery.
