Youth Voices in Action: Embracing the future through creative practise
This post explores our Youth Voices in Action project working alongside various youth groups across Cheshire West and Chester, showing our efforts to assist young people in beginning to think about their plans for the future through creative means.
Our Youth Voices in Action project allowed us to work with young people of diverse backgrounds across Cheshire, using activities focusing on creative wellbeing and self-reflection to assist them in beginning to think about the kind of future they want.
We hoped that through working with various mediums of art, young participants would begin to feel comfortable enough with the idea of opening up to one another and the project lead, gaining confidence to speak out about the kind of future they wanted for themselves. Through the use of activities such as painting, clay-modelling, printing, and collage, the participants were encouraged to share their passions, desires, and experiences in order to better connect with one another and the project lead.
One of the common takeaways seen in a variety of our sessions with these youth groups was that Radiate Arts offered something new for the participants and allowed them an opportunity to be creative without any restrictions they may have had at school, instead they could simply immerse themselves into the activity and have fun with their friends.
‘It's so nice being able to paint what I really want instead of what a teacher asks me to – which is fine but I don’t always want to do that.’
Our activities encouraged both participants who already had an interest in art and those that were curious about new hobbies, to take part and enjoy learning something new whilst having open conversations about the things they consider most important.
‘I care a lot about violence against women and think more people should talk about it because a lot of women in my family are targets of harm and I don’t want it to continue into my future too’
As the main priority with this project was to assist young people in beginning to think seriously about their future and possible career paths, we planned to introduce casual conversation and activities surrounding the ways in which the participants would go about achieving their dream roles and futures. Two of the most popular activities that accompanied this were zine making and ambition trees.
The ambition trees were particularly useful as they allowed the project lead and any assisting volunteers to get to know the participants and the things that they hoped to achieve in their future in a relaxing, fun, and creative way. The participants would use a tracing of their hand to create the trunk of a tree, then proceed to decorate leaves and decorations with wishes, hopes, and desires for their ideal adult life.
‘I feel like I’m learning a lot about myself and want I want to do in the future’
‘I want to be an Olympic showjumper when I’m older, I love riding horses and want to surround myself with what I love – hopefully getting to be the best!’
Over the course of the 30 workshops we organised with the groups, we witnessed a great increase in confidence, willingness to volunteer, and overall enjoyment in art. The workshops gave the young participants the opportunity to better understand how to gain a career in art and charity sectors whilst also allowing them a space to make new friends and gain new hobbies.
‘Radiate Arts looks like it would offer a really safe and supportive space for me’
Youth Voices in Action has successfully allowed Radiate Arts to give young participants the space to share their voices, learn more about ways to access information about their future, and immerse themselves in creative workshops learning new skills every week.
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