CHALLENGING OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR WITH A CREATIVE TWIST€¦ · CHALLENGING OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR WITH...
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CHALLENGING OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR WITH A CREATIVE TWIST
Transcript of CHALLENGING OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR WITH A CREATIVE TWIST€¦ · CHALLENGING OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR WITH...
CHALLENGING OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR WITH A CREATIVE TWIST
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Insi
de 4 | Why We Believe in the Arts (continued on pg 47)
6 | Visual ArtsCutting Down the Chalk & Talk VICTIM EMPATHY SESSIONS - YOS/THE Y (LEICESTER YMCA) BIG DIFFERENCE COMPANY
The Yellow Box CHALLENGE AND SUPPORT UNIT - YOS
Every Wednesday SOFT TOUCH ARTS
Case Study (‘L’ ) - NACRO Graffiti Art Project YOS
Reparation Poster Project YOS
44 | Education, Training & Employment
45 | Performance Indicators
46 | Arts Development Officer - Reflection
48 | Directory & Interesting Websites
50 | Acknowledgements
38 | Summer Arts College 2006/07/08CROSS ART FORM - VISUAL ARTS/DANCE/FILM&MEDIA/MUSIC/ARTS AWARDS/GRAFFITI
22 | DramaBare Drama - Gang Prevention THE Y, WOMEN & THEATRE
The Contact Project ST MATTHEWS ESTATE, LEICESTER
30 | MediaShoot Newspaper - Gun & Knife Crime SOFT TOUCH ARTS
34 | MusicEvery Friday SOFT TOUCH ARTS
CHALLENGING OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR WITH A CREATIVE TWIST is a book promoting the work and engagement of young people from Leicester Youth Offending Service in arts activities
Why
we
belie
ve in
the
Art
s
I truly believe that the arts can and should play an important part in offending behaviour work at the YOS. Over the years I have seen some excellent examples of art therapy, summer schemes covering drama, music, photography and other art streams used to engage some of the more challenging young people. Art can capture feelings, views and experiences sometimes more effectively than one to one or group discussion for many young people. I always welcome the opportunity to develop the arts within organisations that work with young people that display many different needs.
Karen Manville Deputy Head of Service/Service Manager | YOS
The role of the Arts Development post and arts programmes in Youth Offending Services is of significant importance to Arts Council England. Children and young people are a priority area for us and we are also endeavouring to try and ensure that all young people regardless of background or circumstance have direct access to high quality arts opportunities; therefore we are working with some Youth Offending Services across the region to ensure a cultural offer for young people. In recent years the Leicester YOS has worked with various artists and organisations. However, this has been ad hoc and often based on personalities within the YOS with a passion for the arts. It is our intention that through this post and associated projects various staff members and senior management see the impact that the arts can have on young people (upon their development, education and rehabilitation) and therefore attempt to embed a high quality arts offer that is appropriately budgeted and resourced.
Dominic Jinks Development Officer and Participatory Arts | Arts Council England
The relationship with the Arts Development Officer has raised the profile of the arts at Leicester City YOS and led to a sense that a creative arts outlet for some of the most marginalised young people in our society can have huge benefits, both for themselves and for society at large.
Just this year, we piloted a Victim Awareness Groupwork course at Leicester City YOS using visual art, as a means of understanding difficult concepts and representing their learning. As a result it was determined by the facilitators that a higher proportion of the group had joined in, and they were engaged with the task and able to concentrate upon it for longer periods. It also didn’t have the effect of completely putting off young people who didn’t like drama or role-play situations. This learning will have a direct impact on young people who have committed offences against others and has served to highlight for them, in a creative way, the impact of their actions upon others.
In addition to this, young people at the YOS were supported to submit pieces of art work to the Koestler National Awards. Of these, four awards were bestowed on young people, three in individual categories and one for a specialist piece called “Shoot” which has been heralded as a pioneering piece of work. There were over 6000 submissions to the awards, so the magnitude of the Awards cannot be underestimated. This again demonstrates that young people working with the YOS can be supported to gain an attachment to learning, using creative methods and offers them an outlet for their imagination and creativity. This in turn can open up new possibilities for them in terms of positively using their leisure time to design and create and could perhaps lead to a career in the arts.
Julie Fox Prevention and Early Intervention Manager | YOS
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...the arts can change the way we are seen by young
Ger
ry M
olon
ey
WHY WE BELIEVE IN
THE ARTS
people and bring about
behavioural change
Leicester City Youth Offending Service (YOS) recognises the importance of Arts work with young people at risk of offending as a way of both reducing re-offending and allowing young people to make a positive contribution.The YOS has jointly funded an Arts Development Officer Post with the Arts Council to support young people’s active engagement in the creative arts through a range of innovative programmes involving locally based arts organisations. The YOS has been able to provide a range of stimulating and challenging arts activities promoting a wider engagement by vulnerable young people.
The YOS will continue to work with the Arts Council and local arts organisations to provide a range of activities, promoting both inclusion and participation by young people whilst contributing to our ongoing success in preventing offending and reducing re-offending by young people.
David Thrussell Head of Services | Leicester Youth Offending Service (YOS)
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Type of Activity Visual Arts Intervention - PilotAim Develop an arts activity to deliver specific
parts of the victim empathy sessions in newer, more stimulating ways
Objectives Young people to learn techniques to demonstrate their learning and understanding through visual representations.
Group leaders and the artist to work together to investigate ways in which the arts can be best integrated into YOS practice
Partners Leicester YOS/The Big Difference Company/The Y (Leicester YMCA)
Sessions Leaders Mark Sheehan/Adrian Giles/Richard Wright
Artist Paul Barrand (Artist)Age Group 13-19 yearsVenue The Y - East Street, LeicesterEvaluation Pete Mosley (Umbrella)Funding Leicester YOS/The Y/
Big Difference Company
BIG DIFFERENCE COMPANY - MAYA BISWAS This exciting pilot project is a collaboration between The Y, Leicester Youth Offending Service (YOS) and Big Difference Company. The project started with the existing YOS programmes for young offenders that look at Victim Empathy and Anger Awareness.Beverley Sterling, Arts Development Officer (Youth Offending) based at The Y, suggested that there might be an opportunity to investigate ways that arts and creativity could add to the programme. She approached the Big Difference Company who brought in a fine artist/animator to use comic book style storyboarding. Big Difference Company run the ‘Make Me Happy’ programme which uses the arts and humour in a variety of different settings. The techniques involved in animation and cartooning are simple tools that can be used to express and illustrate thoughts and understanding.
The pilot was independently evaluated by Umbrella and was demonstrated to be very successful, effective and engaging for the young people.
CUTTINGDOWN THE CHALK&
TALK
Victim Awareness Programme
The aim of the programme is to give young people an understanding of how a victim feels when an offence is committed. The course is victim not offence focused, therefore the programme can be offered to a wider range of offenders. The programme supports young people to develop a greater empathy for victims. This will give young offenders a more in-depth understanding of the affects of crime and therefore lowers the chance of them re-offending.
Target Group
The programme was designed solely for young people who are working with the city YOS. The preferred age for any young person attending our groups is 13 - 17. The course itself is suitable for males and females. Often the mixture of gender within such groups adds to the success of the programme.
Content
The programme usually runs over three sessions of two and a half hours. However with the creative addition of ‘art’ as a tool to assist young people in their understanding the programme was extended to five sessions.
The original programme begins with an understanding of who is a victim and an understanding of the word empathy. It then goes on to discuss the ‘six states of a victim’: social, emotional, physical, spiritual, financial and mental. After looking at emotions the programme goes on to examining the thoughts, feelings and emotions a victim may experience during and after an offence has been committed. The programme asks why people commit crimes, hierarchy of offences (a victims perspective), denial, and a discussion on Restorative Justice. Role play (Joe Blagg), large and sub group discussion as well as ice breakers and DVDs are used as tools to assist young people’s learning and to accommodate different learning styles. Depending on the types of offences within the group specific topics i.e. shop theft, violent attacks can be added.
Victim Empathy Group with Arts
We added the arts element as a pilot study to see how other creative ways of assisting young people within group work could be used. The programme changed little however, art rather than drama was used as the creative tool to assist learning. Drama is a very useful tool within group work but due to the low confidence and esteem of group members it can sometimes be very difficult to encourage and motivate young people to take part. Art on the other hand we felt would be less confrontational and more successfully encourage and motivate group members.
Victim Empathy Group with Arts - Community Payback SessionsMark Sheehan, Group Co-ordinator &
Adrian Giles, Victims’ Officer (YOS)
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Part of each of the five sessions was devoted to the expression of what was learnt through art. The first session on art focused on emotions whilst also developing basic drawing skills. Here you can see young people learning how different face shapes, eye brows, and mouth shape for example can express different emotions.
Young people enjoyed this session improving confidence in drawing ability and understanding of emotions.
Examples of the art work completed by the group members at various stages of the programme
It was agreed by all that the visual art intervention was a very useful tool in helping young people both express and assist their learning within group settings.
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The group then created their own ‘flow charts’ of the stages of a victim.
Finally the group members put together a more complete cartoon script using one of the given scenarios.
A first attempt at putting a cartoon script together using characters.
Taken from the drawings on emotions young people created their own characters. These
would be used later when drawing scenarios and cartoon scripts that looked at the
thoughts, feelings and emotions of the victim.
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Evaluator’s Comments“I have no doubt in my mind that the young people who took part in this pilot spent a significant amount of time reflecting upon the effects of their actions”
“Young people did learn techniques to demonstrate their learning and understanding through visual representations. In the time available, credit due to the artist, they each picked up some basic cartooning techniques that helped them work through and illustrate challenging concepts.”
“Cutting down the ‘chalk and talk’ element and using the arts element more in order to make space for young people to reflect on their actions and consider the effect of their actions on others - with the drawing providing a vehicle for them to do this.”
Pete Mosley
Artist’s Comments“I’m pleased that people recognise arts as a valuable tool and YOS who commissioned this project saw the potential. Some young people may have very little arts skills and don’t understand relating art to an issue. I found that they were more ready to put their feelings down in the artwork than talk. There is not much room for interpretation and drawing articulates far more than people realise. You can’t give away a lot more once you have drawn and you also cannot hide behind the image. Some young people are reluctant to talk so drawing, even those with little skills, can be used as an alternative way of self expression”.
Paul BarrandHello, you may know us……Jennie Skelding is the Challenge and Support Co-ordinator. You may find her whizzing around the city on her moped or in her granddad’s car (not at the same time!). And, as she hails from Wolverhampton, she says ‘bab’ and ‘mucker’ a lot!Naomi Tansey is the Challenge and Support Unit Worker. She is always on the go, with a smoothie or food in her hand and a smile on her face! If you want to know anything on fashion or celebrity gossip she gets you the lowdown!
Comments by young people
Young person’s positive reception to art based intervention
“Never Gonna Do It Again” - Young person making a commitment CUTTING
DOWN THE CHALK&TALK
The Challenge & Support Unit work with young people (10 - 17 years old) who are involved in anti social behaviour on a one to one and group work basis to address the issues that are affecting them. We also try to divert them into positive activities such as football, mini moto, boxing and much more.
We have to think of creative ways to work with young people on a limited budget and we also meet with young people in different settings. We are firm believers that you don’t have to have a lot of money/funding to be creative and use different genres to work effectively with different people.
However, if you have got the funding to fund a professional, young people get a lot out of it and it could give them the direction that they need!
Challenge and Support Unit
YELLOWBOX
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Past
Future
Present My Journey (Past, Present and Future)Jennie and Naomi find this to be a really fun and creative introduction session with young people. It gives them the opportunity to explore their feelings, thoughts and views relating to their past, present and future. This will give more insight into a young person’s perception of self and others and where they see themselves in the future. An easy way to get to know each other.
You will need:Paper (coloured)Felts and coloured pencilsPen and pencil for writingMagazines and newspapers or photosScissors, glue, cellotope
How to do it1. Introduce sessions to young person. Ask them
to consider:• Anysignificanteventsgoodorbad• Significantpeopleintheirlife• Significantplaces,i.e.daytrips,area,housesetc.• Memoriesi.e.school• Personnelbelongings,i.e.firstbike,cuddlytoy,trainers,
games, diary etc.
2. Encourage young person to make use of the resources to create either a collage or timeline which portrays their past, present and future using a mixture of pictures, drawings, photos, words, poetry and images.
Top Tips
• Thissessioncaneitherbeoneor3shortersessions i.e. Past/Present/Future.
• Alwaysgivetheyoungpersonanexampletoinspire them and trigger ideas.
• ThiscouldalsobeadaptedtoLifebeforeoffending/Lifeduring offending/Future.
It’s all about me, me, me, me, me!
Jennie and Naomi’s thoughts about offending work and art!!Every Case Manager needs a………..Big Yellow BoxJennie and Naomi love their big yellow, easy to carry ART BOX! This must be purchased from Espo or else procurement will fine you!
Be Creative! You don’t have to be an Artist to create Art!
Creating Art doesn’t have to take a lot of time. It’s about using it as a tool to address emotions, feelings, thoughts about offending and the impact it has on others
Don’t forget to display work (maybe as case managers you have an art display at YMCA or a space in your reception area) or show panel members their work.
Think outside the YELLOW BOX!What we recommend for the contents:
Coloured pens
Coloured pencils
Glue
Scissors
Cellotape
Card/paper/plain and coloured
Magazines
Newspaper articles
Glitter/crafts
Disposable camera
Examples of art work by Support Workers
Jennie says that Naomi loves this session. No joking, this is a fantastic way for a practitioner and young person to get to know each other and having an indication of a young person’s level of self esteem.
You will need:Paper/card colouredMagazines, photos, newspapersPens and pencils colouredScissors, glue and cellotape
How do to it
1. Introduce session to young person and have a discussion around the following:
• Likes• Dislikes• StarSign• Age• Music• Quotesimportanttoyoungperson• Favouritefoods• Basicallyanything!
Encourage young person to create a collage, which portrays them as a person (see Jennie and Naomi’s examples).
Top Tips Make sure you have a selection of magazines that represent different genders and cultures. A diverse range that is ALSO AGE APPROPRIATE! Check contents beforehand to avoid embarrassing moments.
It is important for you to have an example ready (here’s one I did earlier!) and display collages in a presentation type way. It is such a fun and a fab way to get to know a young person.
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Images Made by young person aged 13 years
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4. Discuss and use their thoughts for further work. This may provide you with an opportunity to get them involved in other music/poetry sessions or sessions that interests them.
Top Tips• Anyonecancreatepoetryormakeuplyrics-forexample
look at those fridge magnetics poetry that you can get - everyone can do it!!
• Youmightwanttowriteortypeupalistofwordsandthenget the young person to create a piece of poetry from this. Same idea as the fridge magnetic poetry! But you can do it about their offending or subjects they identify with.
• Lookontheinternetforexamplesofpoetryorraps for inspiration.
• Rememberit’saboutthediscussion,nothowgoodthe end product is!
• Haveagoyourself!It’sallpartoftheprocess!
Mad, Sad, Glad and Bad This is something that we have tried in our previous roles that can work on any subject. You can set it as a task to do by themselves or support them. This session can be used to look at their neighbourhood, home or school environment.
You will need:• Adigitalcameraoradisposalcamera• Computerandprinterorthecostoffilmprocessing
How to do itThis can be done with cameras, words i.e. poetry, rapping, images from magazines. It’s your choice.1. Let the young person find images that make them Mad, Sad,
Glad or Bad.2. Ask the young person to place these images into a collage.3. Let the young person present their ideas to you and work on
the issues that come up.
Top Tips• Thishasbeenverysuccessfulandyoungpeoplehave
enjoyed it so much it has now become a competition!• Youcanalsodothissessionaroundemotions,thoughtsand
feelings, it doesn’t have to be around their environment. This can be turned into a good anger management session!
CRIMINAL DAMAGE
Didn’t realise it was classed as criminal damage No victims - it’s a wall
Excitement
CCTV - Are people watching me?
It’s not criminal damage - it’s about creating art. Graffiti is
art, not a crime
Young people on the Rehabilitation and Aftercare Programme (RAP) and the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme (ISSP) have created a huge amount of artwork over the last year as part of a partnership project with Soft Touch Arts. Soft Touch are a community arts organisation based in Leicester, who have over 20 years of experience working with marginalised young people across the city and beyond. Young people who are involved in the YOS can attend music and arts sessions twice a week which are very popular.
The arts sessions run every Wednesday and the young people get the opportunity to try out different activities and develop their creative skills and talents. Animation, digital photography, graphics, and t-shirt making, are just some of the activities that take place, as well as more traditional crafts such as sculpture, painting and drawing. Many of the young people have incorporated their artwork into their music sessions and have created CD covers, flyers and banners to promote themselves.
In addition many of the young people on the project have taken the opportunity to complete an Arts Award, which is a nationally recognised qualification.
Young people have also used the sessions to brighten up the spaces they use. Working in collaboration with a local graffiti artist, Leigh, they have created jungle and underwater scenes in the back yard of the RAP office as well as a futuristic scene at Soft Touch. They have also recently completed a very eye catching mural in the city centre to commemorate the Special Olympics opening - which was officially unveiled by none other than Leicester’s own Engelbert Humperdink!
EVERY WEDNESDAY
Soft Touch Arts Activities - Kieran Walsh (RAP Worker)
Let’s Create a Poster for a Change!Jennie and Naomi find creating a poster a good way to communicate different messages to a wide audience. It is fun and gets a young person thinking more deeply about certain topics such as victim awareness, anti-social and offending behaviour or drugs awareness etc.
You will need:Use a computer to create a poster or do it the good old-fashioned way and use:• Card• Colouredpensandpencils• Paints• Glue• CraftmaterialsBasically anything you like - Be creative!!
How to do itIntroduce session to young person and have discuss a topic. This will allow the thinking process to begin. Perhaps do a spider diagram of ideas and thoughts.
Top Tips• Alwaysgivetheyoungpersonanexamplesoitinspiresthem
and triggers ideas.• Considerdifferentperspectivesi.e.Gettheyoungpersonto
create a poster from the victim and communities perspective.
Shield of EffectsThis is a good session to address the effects of offending and anti-social behaviour on people and helps young people to understand the wider implications of their actions on others.
You will need:• Alargepieceofcardorpaper• pens,paper,glue,scissors• Magazinesandnewspapers
How to do it1. Using a felt tip, divide the paper into 4 sections and label it.• Victims• Yourfamily• Yourcommunity• You
2. Ask the young person to create a piece of art by looking at the effects of their crime/anti social behaviour on the above. Don’t forget they can use words, statements, images.
3. Discuss and if not completed use it for the next session.
Top Tips• Thiscanbeoneor4sessions-lookingatvictim’sthoughts
and feelings on one session and the effects of offending on their family the next etc.
• Anotherwayisbycutting4jigsawshapesfromalargepiece of paper. At each individual session focus on people’s perspectives and the final session (Session 4) bring it all together.
Spitting BarsThis session is for young people who are interested in rapping, MC’ing or making poetry.
The key is that it’s not always about performing, but the message in the words and the thoughts of the young person.
This can be set for homework and brought to the next session.
Remember you don’t have to be a rapper or a poetry writer to deliver this session.
You will need:• Apencil/pen• Paper
How to do it1. Explain to the young person the aim of the session.2. As a case manager you would have already picked a subject
for them to write about or the subject area could be flexible: unemployment, being excluded from school, effects of their behaviour on others, relationships - ANYTHING!
3. If the young person needs inspiration, do a word storm.
For example:
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Young Brits at Art 2009 is a competition hosted by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, in which 11-19 year-olds are invited to create pictures that express their thoughts and feelings about living in Britain today. Young people from all walks of life across England, Scotland and Wales submit art work that tells their story: who they are, what they think, their hopes and fears, aims and ambitions.
Ben Clarke, a young person who engaged with the RAP Programme from 2007-2009, recently submitted a piece of artwork to the competition. In early June he received the following letter:
“Dear Ben,
Congratulations! You have been chosen as one of the 100 finalists of our Young Brits at Art competition. Your artwork was insightful, well crafted and stood out from among the 1,639 entries submitted by young people aged 11-19 from England, Scotland and Wales. We were particularly impressed by the way in which your artwork describes what it is like to be young and British today”,
Ben attended the award ceremony at the Southbank Centre in London on 2nd of July, with his RAP Worker Kieran Walsh, and was treated to a spectacular ‘Oscars’ style presentation which drew media attention from across the nation. Ben’s story in particular was recently written about in the Guardian newspaper.
YOUNGBRITS
AT ARTWINNING
PIECE
Tiernan Welch (Senior ISSP Advocate)Leicester Youth Offending Service has received four awards in total, which (considering only 10 pieces were submitted) is a ‘phenomenal achievement’.Three of the awards were for individuals and one award is specifically for the ‘Shoot Project’, which has been heralded as a pioneering piece of work. Both the Shoot Project and Ben Clarke achieved Platinum Awards, and will receive £100 and a certificate - there are only a handful given out despite 6000+ submissions. The work was assessed by independent judges, and the Koestler Awards would like all the young people involved to be a part of their mentor scheme - and assured us that ‘whatever we’re doing right, keep doing it’.I would therefore like to acknowledge the achievements of the Shoot Project, Ben Clarke, Abbie Gibson and Omar Hakim and their workers. Chosen pieces of work will be exhibited in London.
EVERY WEDNESDAY
Different stages to winning piece
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L is a young person (15 years old) known to me as his supervising caseworker at the Leicester City Youth Offending Service (YOS) since October 2008.He has a lengthy and prolific criminal history, largely for offences of high nuisance-value mainly local to his home area. He has notoriety for graffiti damage to business premises and schools and climbing and jumping off buildings and walls. This offending pattern has placed a significant burden upon local policing resources and caused distress to the local community and neighbourhood. He has therefore been considered for restrictions under Anti Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) legislation by the local police and housing department.
L had also accumulated a history of disaffection from school and prior to his involvement with the Leicester City YOS had been excluded from his place of education after repeated episodes of poor behaviour including assaults on staff. It was thought that he could only continue to be educated off site in a ‘virtual classroom’ using computer technology.
L stated that his offending was linked to his level of boredom and was typically committed opportunistically and in the company of likeminded peers. He was not involved or affiliated to constructive groups and activities.
Progress since October 2008L responded well to his supervision under robust conditions set by the Court. He has engaged in offending behaviour work, Victim Empathy and constructive leisure activities. This has included work that recognised his interests and talents and through the support at Soft Touch, creative arts project designing his own trainers and has considered how this would be marketed. He has been offered the opportunity through the Challenge and Support Project to participate in a graffiti mural undertaken at the local National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO) offices. This project, assisted by ‘reformed’ graffiti artists, illustrated the positive/negative aspects of youth and L played a crucial part in design and completion. L has also recently been involved in a project local to his home area, spraying images on the construction boards of a building in progress, highlighting the themes associated with libraries and community. Whilst all these efforts have been of a high standard and application. The latter is particularly salient given L’s previous pattern of offending, illegally spraying local buildings (including a library) to the annoyance of local residents.
In addition to the above I am happy to report that L’s prolific offending rate has significantly reduced and after a successfully supported period at an individual leaning centre he has begun this academic year back in mainstream education. The need for criminal anti-social behaviour requirements has also abated and L is now working voluntarily with the local ABSO unit to refrain from further offending.
I feel strongly that in order that L should continue to progress it is crucial that opportunities needs to be presented to encourage him to be involved in ways he can legitimately express himself artistically and constructively, preferably within his local community.
FundersFunded by Challenge and Support Unit at Leicester Anti Social Behaviour Unit in partnership with NACRO.
CASESTUDY
John Clarke - YOS Case Manager (Social Work)
CASESTUDY
Arts programmes offer an ideal way for many of our young people to overcome their disaffection with education, training or employment.
John Kerry, Education Manager
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“This series of posters was produced by a young person as part of his Referral Order. Completing the posters made up some of his Reparation hours as they were designed to be displayed in places frequented by other young people to teach them about decision making. The young person carried out this work having first engaged in sessions on decision making and understanding consequences with his Youth Offending Service Officer. The posters thus served a dual purpose of cementing the lessons he had learnt whilst also benefiting the community by promoting positive messages to other young people.”
Paul KiggellReferral Order CoordinatorLeicester City Youth Offending Service
VisualArts
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PROJECT
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Drama
Type of Activity Drama (Gang Prevention Initiative) - Theatre-in-Education
Aim To empower young people to recognise the dangers and consequences of involvement in gang membership and associated crimes
Objectives • raiseawareness • enableyoungpeopletoidentify,
assess and discuss risk factors • equipthemwithresourcesandto
support professionalsPartners The Y (Leicester YMCA) and Women &
Theatre (Birmingham) Project Manager Thomas Wildish
Director/Theatre Manager (The Y)Education Amy Wale, Education Officer (The Y)Actors Kim Charnock, Marcus Hecules,
Vikash PatelDirector Michael Aduwali (Women & Theatre)Target Age Group Schools 11-12 year olds
invited audience including Leicester Youth Offending Service
The Y - East Street, LeicesterEvaluation The YTour The Y Leicester Schools Babington Community College, New
College, Keyham Lodge, Moat Community College, Individual Learning Centre (PRU)
Funding Safer Leicester Partnership, Leicester Youth Offending Service and Arts Council England
BAREDRAMA
Gang Prevention Theatre
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BackgroundIn 2008 meetings with Leicestershire Police identified that there was little prevention work on the threat of gangs. It was agreed that Leicester did not have a serious gang crime problem, however, the police and other agencies identified a need for preventative education to tackle emerging issues in the city.
Too often our involvement with young people is coercive and compulsory in nature and does not give us a chance to explore their creative interests.
Gerry Moloney, Team Manager, Duty and Assessment
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As the drama script, workshops and education pack developed we asked these people for their opinions again and invited them to rehearsals. The person in charge of Citizenship at Leicester City Council became a project consultant to make sure it would fit with the school curriculum.
Women & Theatre, a company based in Birmingham, were asked to produce the drama script and workshops. The play writer and director, Michael Aduwali, developed the language and storyline with the help of different groups of young people, including young offenders, to make sure it was right for Leicester.
The results of Bare Drama
A total of 414 young people took part and 65 professionals also attended a performance including teachers, youth offending workers, youth workers, youth magistrates and the Police. Responses to the workshop and feedback showed that the programme had a major impact in schools. In the workshops young people voiced opinions showing their awareness had grown or changed:
• Youngperson:“Ifyouhadn’ttakenthepackageSpark’swouldn’t have got stabbed” [to Ash]
• Teacher:“Thevastmajorityofstudentscouldcontributeto the discussions in the workshops. The session was a useful springboard for further discussion in the classroom.”
Because the project allowed people to open up and talk about these issues, two young people were identified as being at risk and referred to further support. Six months after the project six students attended a Youth Offending Conference to talk about Bare Drama. There was a high level of recall of the story and characters and they remembered clearly what they had recommended. It is clear their participation and ownership of these solutions will be carried with them as they grow up.
How we made Bare Drama
BAREDRAMA
Bare Drama: the programme
The Y commissioned and co-produced a piece of theatre called Bare Drama, with workshops and an education pack for schools. It was designed to empower young people to recognise the dangers and consequences of getting involved in gang membership and associated crimes. Bare Drama toured to year 7 pupils (age 11 and 12) in 6 schools in priority areas of Leicester in November 2008. This is the only theatre in education project in Leicester dealing with the issue of gangs.
The 45 minute play centred on Sparks, Diesel and Ash, three friends hanging out on an inner-city estate, and the decisions they face. The drama helped the young people to explore difficult issues.
Following the drama, 1 hour of creative workshops were delivered with the young people, meaning they were able to question the actions of the characters to develop their own solutions for their problems. These workshops were followed by a 15 minute feedback session where the students shared their views.
We started by looking at current research on gangs and drawing on the knowledge and experiences of lots of different people in Leicester, including; young offenders, youth workers, Leicestershire Police, Leicester Youth Offending Service, Connexions, Perpetuity (researchers) and Leicester City Council.
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THECONTACTPROJECT
Drama and Multi-Media
Project Workers Nikki O’Brien: Project Manager Gavan Wilmot: Youth Project Leader
Partners Soft Touch: sound bites radio drama based project, Spark festival: street dancing performance with Hip Hop Collective, St Matthews Clean Up: in partnership with local police and housing which involved the creation of a large street graffiti mural, Masaya Link Project: art and spoken work project that looked at the link between young people in Leicester and Masaya in Nicaragua, Sing up: national singing learning initiative, Lyric Lounge: creative writing and spoken word performance as part of the Special Olympics 2009 festival National Youth Theatre: auditions through the support of the project team
Target Age Group Schools 11-19 year olds Performance Venues The Contact Project, St Matthews
Estate, The YFunding Leicester City Council, Action for
Children and Lloyds TSB Community Development Programme, Yoppital Wonga
Silent Movie Filming scene on park involving local young people from the St Matthews community
The project created a short drama film titled `Checkmate` in 2008 that looked at the issues of gangs and violent crime and how that affects the individual and community. It was showcased at the Phoenix, with the entire process of story creation to editing to score creation done by local young people from St Matthews. The project can programme more informal sessions that form part of the collective or individual programme such as art work and music beat-making on the Mac. Throughout the years our arts programmes have involved young people with experience of youth offending services and have found the opportunities provide great vehicles in which to express themselves through acting/performing, writing poetry, painting, singing, etc. The outcomes of these programmes have had long lasting benefits in terms of confidence building and assisting young people to explore their potential and ability to work with others in a positive and safe environment.
Who are the Contact Project?The Contact Project is a voluntary Children and Youth Project that is based on the St Matthews Estate in Leicester. The project began in 1997 and has built a very positive reputation over the years in the local area working closely with children/ young people aged 5-19+ and families. The project has grown and through successfully funding application provides a city wide complementary service for the Leicester city council to those young people aged 11-19 who are at risk or are NEET. We work with numerous statutory and voluntary agencies in supporting the needs of young people including education authorities, social care and health, local police, YOS, Sure Start, youth services, arts organisations and many others. The project’s service is to provide one to one mentoring and small group activities that help develop the social and personal needs of young people in order to assist them to overcome barriers they may face in their lives. We use the getting connected social and personal development accreditation development programme. The majority of costing for our present and past arts programme has come from mainstream funding and we obtain short term one off funding opportunities that are available e.g. Yoppital Wonga to help with our filming equipment and Mac.
The use of the Arts in the Contact Project programmeSince the project’s inception the use of the arts has been an integral tool in overall service from large scale partnership projects to smaller scale local projects.
We recently won an award for the best community participatory act in the Leicester Comedy Festival 2009 with the support of Rob Gee a local arts/ comedic performer.
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The project undertaken under the Leicester Comedy Festival 2006 was Keystone Cop Silent Movie. We created comedic scenes that linked to anti-social behaviour involving a number of famous characters both vintage and contemporary. The entire process was created through staging various workshops, and involved multi-media professionals working alongside the youth project staff. The final event was shown to a community audience along with an animated short feature. The entire process and finished product provided exciting learning opportunities for the individuals involved that was showcased to a wider audience while providing innovate ways of approaching and discussing community themes such as anti-social behaviour.
This project was undertaken under the Leicester Comedy Festival 2005 Smoking Cessation Week. The process created a comic book over the week that linked the theme of stopping smoking involving young people making their own story board and characters integrated into a final comic. The entire process was created through staging various workshops with a professional comic book artist working alongside the youth project staff and the young people. There was a workshop that used photography to highlight how smoking can affect personal appearance. The final event involved smoking cessation professionals using various methods of practice to highlight the impact of smoking on health. Young people created some comedic scenes they enacted at the final event linked to the theme and shown to a community audience. The entire process and finished product provided exciting learning opportunities for the individuals involved that was showcased to a wider audience while providing innovate ways of approaching and discussing community themes such as Anti Social Behaviour and Smoking.
This project called `Checkmate` linked to themes of gun and knife crime/gangs and its impact upon the individual and the community. Young People created the storyline through workshops and were involved in filming, editing and creating the sound track. The final product was a feature length film that was showcased at the Phoenix and was attended by the Lord Mayor, who stated that it was one of the best youth arts programmes he had ever seen. The project was demanding and exciting for all the participants. The young people’s sense of ownership over the entire project was inspiring and they were very proud of the final film.
These are some highlights of arts based work we have undertaken in the past 4-5 years
Silent Movie Filming scene on park involving local young people from the St Matthews community
Photography Workshop that looked at capturing the effects of smoking on personal appearances.
The final event involved NHS professionals using activities to highlight health issues in relation to smoking and young people acting out comic drama scenes involving the national anti smoking character.
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“The Contact project has given me the confidence to perform on stage” Young male aged 14, 2009
“The work we do with the project is always exciting and different” Young female aged 16, 2009
“Well done on a massive success at The Y! You were all bar none - little stars! So many people have said how wonderful you all were. Thank you all very much for your hard work and commitment” Local female spoken word/poet performer, 2009
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A newspaper and podcast by young people for young people. Funded by Mediabox and The Y (Leicester YMCA) - Shoot! is a peer education resource about gun and knife crime created by young people who have first hand knowledge of how it affects them.
SHOOTNEWS-PAPER
Local Young People Tackle Gun & Knife Crime - Soft Touch Arts
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The RAP and ISSP Youth Offending Service put in a lot of time and effort to produce these pieces of peer educational resources. Soft Touch worked with young people from the Leicester YMCA, East St, Aylestone and Hinckley E2E as well as young people involved in other Soft Touch projects.
Whilst producing this newspaper the young people involved gained greater awareness of issues such as consequences, victims, cultural experiences, poor decision making and much more.
The idea for the project came from the young people themselves. Several recent cases of young people caught up in gun and knife got them talking and they decided they wanted to do something positive before things got any worse.
C, a young man on the project team who is under the supervision of the Leicester Youth Offending Service after committing a knife crime, said:
“It’ll help people realise that in countries like Iran and Iraq, and in America too, you have to carry a gun to protect yourself, but not here. It’s helped me think twice about things”.
The participants, many of whom are not in mainstream education also learnt graphic design, photography and sound recording.
The launch of the Shoot Newspaper was held at the Directors Lounge of the Cinema de Lux, Highcross Centre, Leicester and attended by various officials including the Youth Justice Board, City and Council representatives, Criminal Justice Systems etc.
This newspaper is available from Soft Touch Arts Organisation and Leicester Youth Offending Service.
There is an increasing body of research evidence that suggests that those with psychological damage and distress can find peace and calm through artistic expression in its many forms and we should not under estimate what can be achieved and how empowering it can be to discover a new talent or skill.
Gerry Moloney, Team Manager, Duty and Assessment
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Every Friday young people with the RAP and ISSP teams come to Soft Touch Arts and get the opportunity to be creative. They can work on different arts, media, music activities and other challenges whilst building their skills, confidence and self esteem in a supportive and welcoming environment.
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Soft Touch Music Activities - Chris Wigmore
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This happens through a partnership between Soft Touch and the Youth Offending Service which has been going since 2005 and involves our arts workers and the young people’s advocates working together to meet the needs and creative aspirations of young people involved with the Leicester YOS.
Soft Touch also run regular music sessions, where once a week young people have full access to individual music studios and get the chance to write, record and produce their own work. This has always been an extremely popular session and has led to many local and national events, with young people performing their own tracks in front of many different audiences. The project has also seen young people create their own radio show which they write and perform themselves. In recent years there has also been a lot of involvement with major events such as the Summer Sundae festival, where young people have had their own stage and have helped to promote the youth music scene vto a completely new audience.
Young people who attend on a regular basis get the opportunity to work towards the Arts Awards and we have been able to offer work experience and progression to peer mentor roles for some young people.
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A successful joint bid submitted to Youth Music in 2005 with the Leicester Youth Offending Service’s RAP Team, resulted in a two-year project called ‘Holding it Down’. The Youth Offending Service have continued this funding and we have worked with over 100 young people, giving them access to music production, song writing and performance opportunities. One young man, Kane, has shown exceptional talent, skill and leadership and against the odds has turned his offending behaviour around by taking on the role of peer mentor. He is now passing on his skills to young people involved in other Soft Touch music projects including the regular Friday YOS music sessions.
Chris Wigmore
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A major education and employment achievement has been our success in supporting young people to progress from project participant to peer mentor. Through securing longer term arts and music programmes we have been able to offer opportunities for progression which are making a real difference to individuals’ creative abilities, confidence, personal development and preparation for further education and employment.
CASESTUDY
Kane
The work on these pages shows the talents of the young people
CD Cover & Designs - Omar
Listen to her speak (n, 2005)
a girl walking along the street, looking pretty f****ed up, would you believe
Being there, in the wet and cold, knowing her pain is deep
Please somebody keep her safe from these concrete streets
Sad and lonely nowhere to go in the cold and rain knowing her parents are in so much pain
What is she thinking, seems so confused, crying out for help ‘coz of getting abused
No-one’s listening to how she feels, all she sees is a world of bubbles
Let her speak
Listen to her words
Then you’ll understand why she’s so hurt
Let her speak
Listen to her words
Then you’ll understand why she’s so hurt
Kane
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My Late Nights
Sometimes I spend my quiet nights…on a hill, staring at a city with bright lights
The only thing I got is my brother, to hold on
Till the police on the streets tell us to roll on
There was time when I used to struggle
And music, we had to hustle
Late night streets where we always see beef
Music was the main key that brought all the grief
Even I thought life was hard
Love wasn’t there because it was too far
Life in the rap game
Spit rhyme for respect, what won’t even change
Even we get stressed
We need to hold tight
This is what I do with my late nights
Anthony Raven
Hope with God
there is one night
thing that did not go right
heart and the soul did not make it tight
didn’t even make it to the next light
knock on the door to tell me you was gone
that’s why am writing this song
to let my friend know how long
your friendz and me are staying strong
nothing we can do only God is number one
I thought God is here where you need him
he didn’t help my friend Mark when he stopped breathing
‘tell me God’ what is the real reason
pray most nights felt like you was just leaving
nothing left to bless and nothing left to see
waking up in the morning streets saying r.i.p
Anthony Raven
Lyrics submitted by Philip Archard - ISSP Advocate
“My name is Kane, I live in Aylestone and I’m 18. I came to Soft Touch on the RAP music and arts sessions when I was 15. I now help on projects. I am an extra pair of hands and also a role model to other young people. I used to be a criminal but I changed my ways. If the people who come to the projects see someone else who used to be like them and they think ‘he’s got something now, all through being good, so I could end up doing something similar’ then that could help them”.
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Type of Activity Visual Arts, Music, Drama, Dance, Film and Media, Graffiti, Arts Award
Partners Leicester Youth Offending Service, Youth Justice Board
Project Management (08)Kieran Walsh (RAP Worker) and Bronwen Barradell (ISSP Advocate) - including support staff, volunteers and ISSP Advocates
Project Management (06/07)Brian Simmonds (ISSP Advocate)
Project Worker (06/07)Nigel Richards (Music Technology) - including basic skills tutor, 8 ISSP Advocates (rota system), Connexions Personal Adviser
Artists (08) Kieran Walsh (Digital Arts, Sculpture), Claire Brody (Dance), Louise Jaggard (Drama), Leigh Drummond (Graffiti), Neale Craston (Graffiti) On-Point Films
Artists (06/07) On-Point Films, Send Project (Music), Geeta Jaldevi (Visual Artist), Kieran Walsh (Visual Artist), 27a Arts Space (Mixed Media)
Age Group 14-19 years old (approximately 10 young people attend)
Venues 08 Braunstone Grove, Community Centre, Braunstone, Leicester
07 African Caribbean Centre, Maidstone Road, Leicester/Watershed Music Studios
06 African Caribbean Centre, Maidstone Road, Leicester
Evaluation Youth Justice Board, EcotecShowcases (06/07/08)
Celebration Ceremony, The Leicester Creative Business Depot (LCB Depot), African Caribbean Centre
Funding Youth Justice Board, Arts Council England
Engaging in the arts can play a major part so that young people can create a sense of identity and a place in life in which they belong.
Bruce Harrison, Manager, Community Supervision Team
Summer Arts College
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On-Point Films Filming scene Summer Arts College 2008
BackgroundSummer Arts Colleges are a cornerstone of the Youth Justice Board and Arts Council England’s strategic partnership. The delivery of Summer Arts Colleges is managed by Unitas. Summer Arts Colleges have been running since 2005. They provide a structured arts programme and run for six weeks, 25 hours per week of arts-based activity over the summer holiday, using the Arts Enrichment resources. They are for young people on an Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme (ISSP) and/or a Detention and Training Order (DTO). The young people on the programme would have spent a significant period of time away from mainstream education, thus engaging them in a meaningful arts programme.
These Colleges:
• deliverastimulatingandrewardingartsexperience
• workwiththeartstoimproveliteracyand numeracy skills
• explorepossibleroutesintoemploymentandcareerswithin the arts and creative industries
• facilitatetransitionbackintomainstreameducation,training and employment
• offeraqualificationthroughtheArtsAward(anationallyaccredited award which recognises how young people develop artistic, creative, leadership and communication skills).
To date, nationally 57 Summer Arts Colleges have taken place. The evaluation data has demonstrated the following positive outcomes:
• AsignificantreductioninoffendingduringandaftertheSummer Arts Colleges
• Animprovementinliteracyandnumeracyskills
• Asignificantincreaseineducationalengagementduring and following the Summer Arts Colleges
• TheachievementofanationalLevel1accreditation-Bronze Arts Award.
In addition to these key outcomes, the Summer Arts Colleges can provide the 25 hours of education, training and employment that YOS and YOTs must arrange for young people on ISSP or a DTO, at a time of year when education or training provision, such as schools or colleges, may be closed. They also provide YOS and YOTs with the time to arrange placements for young people, starting in September.
“I worked as a lead artist on the 2007 Summer College and Co-Programme Manager alongside Bronwen Barradell (ISSP Advocate), in Summer College 2008, working mainly in digital arts. Over the six week period I watched the young people develop a completely new set of skills and explore their own creativity in ways they had not done previously. In doing so they also gained a lot more self confidence and belief in their own ability. For me this is exactly what the Summer Colleges are about.”
Kieran Walsh Arts Worker/Lead Artist/RAP Worker
Summer Arts College 2008
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The purpose of all ETE Team members including Connexions Staff is to help and encourage this particular group of vulnerable young people to re-engage with education, training or employment and by so doing, signpost the way to a better future.
The way this is achieved is by building trust with the young person and by helping Case Managers find the most appropriate form of ETE for their young person. By offering specialist advice, guidance and mentoring, it is anticipated that the young person will find an activity that appeals and that will survive the test of sustained engagement.
Supported by staff who understand the need to empathise and work alongside young people, the importance of embedding Arts programmes into ‘the basket of opportunities’ that are consistently available at the YOS, cannot be over estimated. Past experiences show that these programmes work and can go a very long way towards reintegrating previously alienated young people, back into the community.
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John Kerry - Education Manager
Education, Training & Employment (ETE) is one of eight management areas within the Leicester City Youth Offending Service (YOS) which support young people who are involved with the Youth Justice System.
Overview on Arts and Performance in Education Training and EmploymentThe Arts programme is an excellent example of how new opportunities opening themselves up to vulnerable young people can make a real difference. Young people can enjoy a completely new experience and learn a great deal about both themselves and their local community at the same time. For most it’s a ‘win, win’ situation.
Over the past two years full time engagement in education, training and employment for young people working with the City Youth Offending Service has increased by 18% (64% average for 2007, 82% average for 2009). This improvement has largely come about because of an increase in attractive opportunities available to young people and because the YOS has improved its own lines of communication with partners. This has been strengthened by a closer partnership between the YOS and the Arts Development post based at The Y, (Leicester YMCA). To ensure the embedment of the arts, current good practice needs to be built upon to guarantee continued success in the future.
The YOS has continued to make improvements in ETE engagement during 2007-08 and 2008-09 following the appointment of a dedicated YOS ETE Manager.
2008-09
These figures include young people involved in arts-related activities.
Overall a total of approximately 31 young people have engaged with arts-related activity which represents 9.5% of the YOS caseload managed in the community.
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The Youth Offending Service is about changing minds, thought processes and signposting young people to make the right choices and pro-social choices and engaging in the arts can play a major part so that young people can create a sense of identity and a place in life in which they belong.
Bruce HarrisonManager, Community Supervision Team | YOS
Through the arts, many of the young people on orders with the YOS, and particularly those on the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme have managed to channel their talents and complete meaningful activities in a way that they have enjoyed. Enjoyment is an idea that often seems to not quite fit our image as punitive, yet if a young person can gain the confidence to remove themselves from offending via drama, music, sketching, painting or dancing, this must be noted and promoted! The young people that my team support are some of the most prolific and serious young offenders in the City and County and to see them gaining arts awards, performing a piece of music in a public arena or making a short film is truly inspiring. Those young people who are on the custody threshold are often seen as being so very difficult to engage, yet look what can be achieved with the right support and the creativity that arts allows us to use. Having Beverley working alongside the YOS further allows us to channel youth creativity and progress as a service that not only meets young offenders and families needs but has a positive impact on the wider community in a lasting way.
Sarah Whittle Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme Manager | YOS
The numbers of opportunities for young people to engage in Positive Activities for Young People (PAYP) are on the increase. We are looking to offer a wide range of providers and over the last two years the growth of Dance and Music has seen a development in widening different types of activities for young people. On the community front, all youth centres should have outstanding world class facilities with a range of professionals and built-in-services which link into the Youth Offending Services, Arts, Health - a multitude of providers including sexual health projects 7 days a week 24 hours a day - all under one roof.
Fiona Weston Operations Manager | Leicester City Council Youth Services
Too often our involvement with young people is coercive and compulsory in nature and does not give us a chance to explore their creative interests. If we are able to give them one opportunity to experience something new to them which is able to give them a chance to be seen in a different light by those around them they will surely benefit. So many of our young people are held back by emotional and behavioural problems and are beset by learning difficulties which result in Special Educational Needs which so often go unmet. Challenging Offending Behaviour with a Creative Twist can hopefully point us to arts projects that our young people have or can be involved. This offers case managers the chance to balance the more punitive aspects of our work opening up new ways of building positive relationships.
I believe that through the arts we change the way we are seen by young people opening up greater opportunities to bring about behavioural change. I take this opportunity to encourage all of you to identify those young people, especially those who have missed out at school, who could respond to a challenge and seek out the creative aspects of their character which otherwise may never be discovered. There is an increasing body of research evidence that suggests that those with psychological damage and distress can find peace and calm through artistic expression in its many forms and we should not underestimate what can be achieved and how empowering it can be to discover a new talent or skill.
Please take a look at what has already been achieved and see if you can match the needs of at least one young person on your caseload and I predict that the result will encourage you to repeat the effort required again and again. Beverley Sterling (Arts Development Officer) has now joined the Leicester Youth Offending Services’ Participation Forum and this will hopefully give the service more options to creatively seek the views of young people and their carers in reshaping YOS services through the arts.
Gerry Moloney Team Manager, Duty & Assessment | YOS
Arts Programmes offer an ideal way for many of our young people to overcome their disaffection with education, training or employment. They are attractive and flexible in content, excitingly presented, focused on the real world, accessible to young people, motivationally inspiring, personally rewarding and above all, different, challenging and exciting - in other words they are often a ‘must do’ for young people who have had a series of very negative ETE experiences in the past.
Over the past two years an excellent working relationship has evolved between the Arts Development Officer, Beverley Sterling, and the ETE Manager at Leicester City YOS. Joint planning meetings have contributed significantly to the Arts Development Framework and the ETE Action Plan for 2008-09-10. Ensuring that attractive Arts programmes continue to have a place at the opportunities table for young offenders re-engaging with education and training forms a crucial part of the on-going partnership work currently being developed. This work will continue into 2010.
John Kerry Education Manager | YOS
Arts based intervention need to be delivered to young people in response to their learning styles, YOS staff are encouraged to undertake a VARK assessment with young people to identify learning styles. Activities such as story board intervention allows the use of pictures and drawings to help explore key areas of effective practice. Staff at the YOS would benefit from a resource list for intervention accessing and using arts based sessions. Arts based intervention is also very useful for evidence on what intervention has been completed and kept in files.
Short focused arts projects are more successful than long term projects as they tend to lose their focus over time.
Simon Booth Enhanced Supervision Team Manager | YOS
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WHY WE BELIEVE IN THE ARTS
CHALLENGING OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR
WITH A CREATIVE
TWISTBeverley Sterling (Arts Development Officer - Youth Offending)
Arts intervention and preventions should not be seen as a solution for challenging offending behaviour, but it can be used as part of a process to address offending actions.As arts activities are often geared to explore self and group expression, this process of engagement challenges offending behaviour by offering alternatives to dealing with custodial sentences.
This process is very complex as ‘arts development’ and Leicester Youth Offending Services create a partnership to understand each other’s worlds when working together to create opportunities for young people to access the arts, and for arts to work within challenging environments. The Arts Development Post (ADO) based at The Y (Leicester YMCA) has strategically brokered partnerships to establish a way of working which supports the arts, artists and Leicester Youth Offending Service to achieve a common vision which is to embed the arts within the Service. This three year post which ends in 2010, has only scratched the surface of an area of development work that has the potential to be long-term and creatively beneficial for young offenders, the service and its stakeholders. The main aim of this post is to effectively embed the arts at YOS. This can only be achieved when the desired outcomes of the YOS Arts Programme are put alongside a framework. Specific goals need to be clearly indicated at the outset, to keep young people interested and motivated as well as to challenge their offending behaviour.
It has been a slow process which is still ongoing, but this slow developmental phase has been important to define and understand what works for Leicester Youth Offending Service using the arts. This area of work is not only about increased activity but about developing a working environment which is receptive and conducive to existing work as well as new initiatives. Therefore some development although already formally acknowledged will remain ‘invisible’.
Some of these arts practices are illustrated in ‘Challenging
Offending Behaviour with a Creative Twist.’ Some activities have been informal, undocumented and carried out by artists and YOS staff delivering art sessions together with their own work load. Others have been formalised and structured since the onset of the ADO post to enable YOS staff to utilise the arts as an ideal vehicle in communicating with young people in a creative way and for the work to be included in wider YOS’ work and performance indicators. This creative approach has set a precedent in determining best practice for arts organisations and practitioners working with Leicester Youth Offending Service to assist some of the creative responsibilities that may have been carried out by Case Managers, Session Leaders, Advocates, RAP Staff and other YOS Staff in their work. Strategically, there still needs to be a greater awareness on the basic provisions, resources, support and demands when programming arts activities and greater support given to young people to achieve positive outcomes. But the ADO post has identified that this process may not always be possible and therefore
‘Challenging Offending Behaviour with a Creative Twist’, aims to explore ways in which successful art practices can be shared, understood and adopted with appropriate support earmarked to improve artistic interventions and preventative activities. This can only be achieved if good working relationships are established and continued support for arts activities happens throughout the process to meet agreed objectives.
Beverley Sterling Arts Development Officer (Youth Offending) The Y, Leicester YMCA
‘Challenging Offending Behaviour with a Creative Twist’, aims to explore ways in which art practices that have been delivered, can be shared with the intention that there is greater awareness and understanding, so that effective practices can be adopted, appropriate support earmarked to improve artistic interventions and preventative activities for young people at Leicester Youth Offending Service.
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Arts Council England - East Midlands Office St Nicholas Court, 25-27 Castle Gate, Nottingham NG1 7AR T: 0845 300 6200 F: 0115 950 2467 W: www.artscouncil.org.uk/publication_archive/the-arts-and-young- people-at-risk-of-offending/ W: www.artscouncil.org.uk/regions/east-midlands/
Big Difference Company LCB Depot, 31 Rutland Street, Leicester LE1 1RE T: 0116 261 6812 E: [email protected] W: www.bigdifferencecompany.co.uk
Contact Project 25 Kamloops Crescent, St Matthews, Leicester LE1 2HX T: 0116 262 2727 F: 0116 262 9410
Nikki O’Brien Project Manager E: [email protected]
Gavan Wilmot Youth Project Leader E: [email protected]
Harsha Achraya Youth Project Mentor E: [email protected]
Adrian Ramkissoon Youth Project Mentor E: [email protected]
Leicester Anti Social Behaviour Unit Challenge & Support Coordinator PO Box 6633, Leicester LE4 1WN T: 0116 229 3620
Leicester City Youth Offending Service Eagle House, 11 Friar Lane, Leicester LE1 5RB T: 0116 299 5830 F: 0116 233 6003 E: [email protected]
Connexions Staff have referred young people on to the following arts programmes:
Positive Activities for Young People (PAYP) Leicester City Council Youth Services 3rd Floor, 10 York Road, Leicester LE1 5TS T: 0116 229 4363
Fiona Weston Operations Manager E: [email protected]
Soar Valley Music Centre E2E programme focused on music and creative industries72NurseryRoad,ThurnbyLodge,LeicesterLE79UQ T: 0116 266 4153/0116 243 2966 W: www.musicentre.co.uk
Chris Dunn E2E Training Provider
Soft Touch Arts 120a Hartopp Road, Leicester LE1 1WF T: 0116 270 2706 F: 0116 274 5824 E: [email protected] W: www.soft-touch.org.uk
Wing Productions House 115 Burnmoor Street, Leicester LE2 7JL T: 01455 283 108 E: [email protected]
Courses in creative and performing arts: dancing, acting, film, music, fashion, visual art, photography, make-up and sound engineering.
The Y, Leicester YMCA 7 East Street, Leicester LE1 6EY T: 0116 255 6507 F: 0116 255 6509 E: [email protected] W: www.ytheatre.co.uk W: www.leicesterymca.co.uk
Anne Peaker Centre for Arts Criminal Justice System Ally Walsh Arts Manager 20 Newburn Street, London SE11 5PJ T: 0207 735 6831 E: [email protected] W: www.apcentre.org.uk
Arts Alliance www.artsalliance.org.uk
The Arts Alliance is a national body whose purpose is to improve communication and broker relationships between artists and organisations working with the Criminal Justice Sector, offenders and ex-offenders, prison and probation staff, and relevant government personnel.
For more general enquiries, please contact the Anne Peaker Centre, Secretariat to the Arts Alliance.
Bridget Edwards, CEO Anne Peaker Centre 20 Newburn Street, London SE11 5PJ T: 0207 735 6831 E: [email protected]
Geese Theatre Company Woodbridge House, 9 Woodbridge Road, Birmingham B13 8EH T: 0121 449 6222 F: 0121 449 1333 E: [email protected] W: www.geese.co.uk
Geese Theatre Company is a team of actors and group workers who present interactive drama and conduct workshops, staff training and consultation within the Criminal Justice System. The company has an international reputation for innovative work with offenders and youth at risk and since 1987 has worked in more than 150 custodial institutions and with 42 probation areas. During this time, we have worked with more than 150,000 offenders and 30,000 other individuals.
Women & TheatreThe Friends Institute, 220 Moseley Road, Birmingham B12 0DG T: 0121 440 4203 F: 0121 446 4280 E: [email protected]
Award-winning Women & Theatre has established a national reputation over 25 years for producing well-researched and sharply observed pieces of original and exciting theatre on themes of contemporary relevance. By dramatising subjects at the cutting edge of people’s consciousness we create accessible theatre that people want to see.
DIRECTORY INTERESTING WEBSITES
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ACKNOW- LEDGE MENTS
Acknowledgements To all contributors, Leicester YOS, partners, young creative minds, artists and those interested in the arts by young people.
Art Work All Illustrations by young people from Leicester Youth Offending Service (YOS) unless otherwise stated.
Published by The Y (Leicester YMCA) - Arts Development (Youth Offending).
Design & Production Ambasa Bandele x.dm T: 0845 625 0265 www.x-dm.com
© Copyright All editorial content and images by young people are held by the publishers and Leicester Youth Offending Service. Reproduction in whole or part is forbidden without the written permission of the publishers and Leicester Youth Offending Service. The publisher cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage to unsolicited material.
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CHALLENGING OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR WITH A CREATIVE TWIST
