Creative Rapp

CREATIVE RAPP

Info for parents, carers and professionals
WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT ? (A young persons guide)
WHAT WE HAVE DONE

CREATIVE RAPP shades
Info for parents, carers and professionals:

MISSION STATEMENT
The purpose and aims of the group is to positively facilitate the use of the creative arts in order to engage with children and young people who present as in need, at risk or may live in care.

To develop and maintain a nurturing, supportive and responsive group environment where children and young people feel safe to express themselves and gain self confidence.

To support children and young people to develop life skills that are transferable in other areas of their life, in order to promote emotional well being and further life opportunities.

Project Background
The Project has evolved and developed from the Platform Project, established as a partnership between Arts in Health, RAPP, and Hull Social Services in January 2002. The Platform Project was aimed exclusively at “looked after” children and young people, the funding ceased in 2006. Since this time RAPP has dedicated time and effort to ensure that the provision continued, mainly in response to the demand from young people who have consistently informed RAPP that they would like to “do drama and music”.

The project has being kept alive through small amounts of funding from various local sources. This funding has been accessed by the workers facilitating the group, who have also accessed several venues across the City in order for the group to run.

1. PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The project offers and facilitates a city wide drama and arts group. This breaks down into two, two hour sessions per week of drama and other creative arts forms, such as dance and song writing that are accessed by around thirty young people on a regular basis. The Project offers a taxi service for children and young people to be transported to and from the group.

2. TARGET GROUP
Children and young People aged between 9 and 18 years old who present as at risk, in need or live in care in Hull.

3. OUTCOMES
The outcomes are measured through regular evaluation’s with the young people and with their parents, carers and professionals.

The evidence from these evaluations highlight that the group offers a safe place for children and young people to meet and express themselves. These young people can present changeable and challenging behaviour, often due to ongoing issues in their lives. The group offers a stable and consistent platform for them and also a place that provides a sense of belonging and a community feel.

There a number of case work examples where children and young people accessing the group, will often seek out and value the support of staff and RAPP in addressing sensitive issues in their lives. Added to this many young people have been able to access other projects or activities RAPP and its partner agencies run across the city.

Further evidence from the evaluations highlight that the group plays a key role in developing young people’s confidence and life skills. This is evidenced through; the number of young people who have accessed the group and then returned to help facilitate in a peer mentoring role with younger group members, young people using the group as a springboard to improve their educational attainment and young people performing live to local an national audiences of between fifty and two hundred people.

Many parents have highlighted through evaluations that the group offers vital provision for young people whose families are of low income and therefore cannot afford to attend privately run drama or arts groups.

Further concrete tangible outcomes would be evidenced by the range of work the group have been involved in such as; The release of a 3 track CD for the Wilberforce 07 Celebrations which has received national recognition and an invite to perform in the House of Commons; A recent production of Grease the Musical which was performed by 30 young people at Northern Academy of Performing Arts; the creation of several short films, some of which have been shown on the Big Screen and the development of training material when young people have used Drama to deliver awareness sessions to a range of professionals locally and around the country.

PROJECT REFERENCES:
From Parents and Carers

‘The group has helped young people I look after to socialise outside of the family unit. It also helped them to realise her potential strengths and weaknesses.

‘She comes home a very happy child and enjoys talking to the older girls in the group who are positive role models for her.’

‘He appears a lot happier at school and during the past few months and she has established some fairly stable friendships with friends at school and outside school.

‘I have seen many children starting RAPP and in particular the drama group with little or no confidence and self esteem, and with the help from the staff they have achieved so much’

‘She has made a lot of new friends and I feel her behaviour has improved as she is more understanding of other people’s needs’

‘I think this group brings a lot of fun and joy into their lives. Keep up the good work, the kids love it

And from young people:

.... speech bubbles p2s

For more information contact:
Ian Bolton: ian.bolton@hullcc.gov.uk Tel.07921-800617
or Iain Thompson (Northern Drama and Education): Tel.0780-3908782
www.freedomroadcreativearts.com

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WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT ? girldude
A young persons guide:

The Freedom Road Creative Arts project uses drama, Dance, and Song writing as a way of giving children and young people in need or in care in the city a chance to have fun, make new friends, learn new skills and become more confident about themselves.

Who comes to the group? "Some of us are in care and some of us live at home with our parents. We meet every week to put together drama and musical theatre performances. The last one we did was Grease to an audience of 200 people."

How does the project help us in our lives? "Doing drama and dance has helped me make more friends at school because I feel better about myself and I get involved a lot more. It also gives me somewhere to express myself too."

What else do we do? "Some of us are in a band called FREEDOM ROAD. We recorded a CD this year that raised over £2,000 for the Milton Margai School in freetown Sierra Leone. We have also just sang in the House of Commons at the request of John Prescott."

When do we meet? " We meet twice a week on a Monday and Tuesday night 5pm until 7pm, we sometimes meet at other times if we are rehearsing for a performance."

p2s logo What is P2S? "Some of us also work with RAPP, Hull Childrens Services and Hull Children's Fund on a panel called P2S. This is a group of young people who meet once meet a month to make decisions on applications from young people, requesting money and support for their hobbies and stuff like that".

For further information on Platform To Success please call:
01482-615250 or email platform2success@hullcc.gov.uk

For further information on Freedom Road and the creative side of RAPP see the website: www.freedomroadcreativearts.com

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WHAT WE HAVE DONE girldude

Watch the "Super Park Rangers" Video
(may take a few seconds to load)

freedom rd cd

Click the arrow to listen to: "Song for Wilberforce"

Click the arrow to listen to: "SILVER SKY "

Click the arrow to listen to: "WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET"

The idea for these songs arose from my efforts to compose some original prayers for an Interfaith Prayerbook for the Wilberforce 2007 celebrations. As I was working on this particular piece it became evident that this was not a prayer to be recited or a meditation to be read, or a song to be sung.

I was able to interest Ian Bolton and the RAPP group in setting the words I had to music, and with the help of lain Thompson of NDE, they took what would have been a decent little ditty and turned it into something sublime. The result is this CD, so don’t just read about it: LISTEN TO IT!
- Rev. Tom McCready, Hull Unitarian Church

This project was supported by The Leonard Chamberlain Trust, Hull Unitarian Church. R I P F.

RAPP offers a children’s rights and advocacy service responding to children and young people in need or at risk, aged 9 to 21 and living in the Hull area.The RAPP team often use the creative arts to support young people in building their confidence and provide a positive and safe way in which to express their feelings. With funding from Positive Activities For Young People. Freedom Road were given the opportunity to record their songs at Fairview Studios.

The two accompanying tracks on this CD are further evidence of the unique creative and musical talents of “Freedom Road”: Cindy, Ben, Sami, Sarah, Becky. Ellie, Jess, Shaunna, Chiq, Michelle and Sophie.

With thanks to Tom McCready, Sarah Naughton, Dawn Binns Kay Bolton, Lisa Chapman.The Warren, Jeff Willis. Hull Youth Service, Ruth Drake, Geoff Wilson, Dan Foster, Craig Clark (the man) for the inspiration, all the parents, carers and people who have supported the project, and any organisation who has contributed to the production of the CD.

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