London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Find Your Talent Consultation September 2008 – January 2009
2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2008 the Government launched ‘Find Your Talent’, a national programme designed to trial ways of providing young people with the opportunity to take part in up to five hours of quality arts and cultural activities per week. London Borough of Tower Hamlets commissioned Bold Creative to conduct a consultation project with young people and their families across the borough. The aim was to introduce the initiative to residents and investigate the best way to deliver the Find Your Talent initiative in the future. The consultation was high profile, innovative and fun, drawing together young people and their families from all eight Local Area Partnerships across the borough. Activities were designed to give participants the opportunity to share their thoughts on how they would like to engage with future arts and cultural activities. We found that young people and their families had a broad understanding of arts and culture, and on the whole, hold a clear sense that participating in it enriches their lives, allowing them to feel widespread positive emotions such as happiness, excitement and pride.
Activities that allow participants to physically express themselves, such as sculpture and dance, are popular but so too were community festivals. There is also scope to increase the range of opportunities for structured engagement outside of school. Whilst there are many opportunities to improve the amount and way that young people and their families experience art and culture in London Borough of Tower Hamlets, it was also hugely encouraging to find that over half of those that took part in the consultation felt that there was nothing stopping them at the moment. This consultation forms the basis of a broad understanding of young people and their families attitudes towards arts and culture, whilst providing a framework for future, more in depth investigation.
4
CHAPTERS 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
6
INTRODUCTION
8
AIMS OF THE CONSULTATION
12 THE BOLD APPROACH 14 16 18 22 24 26 30
WHAT WE DID Tagmap Tagwagon workshops Tagmap workshops Mobile workshops Festival of talent Limitations of the methodology
32 34 44 52 62 70
FINDINGS What does arts and culture mean to you? What’s the best arts and culture activity you’ve ever done? What arts and cultural activities would you like to do in the future? How often do you enjoy arts and culture? What barriers stop you from enjoying arts and culture?
78 REPORT CONCLUSIONS 82 REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS 86 ANNEX
6
INTRODUCTION A well thought out cultural offer which engages families from different communities... London Borough of Tower Hamlets is one of ten local authorities across the UK taking part in the Government’s national ‘Find Your Talent’ initiative. The aim of Find Your Talent is to trial ways of providing young people with the opportunity to take part in up five hours of quality arts and cultural activities per week, both in and out of school. One of the key features of the pathfinder in London Borough of Tower Hamlets is the commitment to build on the current offer and create a consistent and strategic approach to the way in which opportunities are offered, and accessed, throughout the borough. To help inform this, the Find Your Talent team commissioned Bold Creative to carry out a high profile and wide ranging consultation with young people and local families to really get under the skin of what they thought about arts and culture in their area.
8
AIMS OF THE CONSULTATION
London Borough of Tower Hamlets commissioned Bold Creative - a local social and youth innovation agency - to undertake a series of creative consultation activities with children, young people and their families across the borough between the end of October 2008 and the end of January 2009. The objectives of the consultation as part of a qualitative report would be to help the local authority in the implementation of the initiative by: • • •
Raising the profile locally of Find Your Talent Ensuring that children, young people and their families have the opportunity to shape and influence activities offered through Find Your Talent Gaining buy-in from schools, Idea Stores, Children’s Centres and other key delivery partners on the initiative
10
In achieving the above, it was agreed that we would gather views from the local community on: • T he definition of arts and culture in London Borough of Tower Hamlets • What future activities should be offered through Find Your Talent; • How to target and engage particular groups within the community who are less likely to access any offer • What motivates parents, carers and families in London Borough of Tower Hamlets to engage with arts and cultural activities (and what some of the issues stopping them doing more might be) • What a quality arts and cultural activity looks like in London Borough of Tower Hamlets
One of the key objectives of the consultation was to involve arts and cultural partners and young people, not only in determining a wide and creative consultation process but also in terms of running the consultation events. London Borough of Tower Hamlets requested that any consultation strategy should include: • S uggestions on consulting creatively with our target audience through the medium of arts and cultural activities
• • •
drawing on the skills, expertise and knowledge of our partners and young people Taking consultation events out and about to schools, Idea Stores, Children’s Centres, Parents Forums Consultation events which focus on specific localities (i.e. the four extended school cluster areas) Proposals for ensuring the consultation engaged with a broad range of different groups, including young people with SEN
The desired priority groups we were asked to engage with were: • Children (0-11) • Young people (12 -19/up to 25 with learning difficulties and disabilities) • Parents and carers The following section of the report details the methodologies used and the approach undertaken in seeking to meet these needs.
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THE BOLD APPROACH
Innovation and a participatory approach are at the heart of everything Bold Creative does. In getting to grips with this project, a number of ways were examined in how young people would be engaged to support participation in the consultation. Working closely with London Borough of Tower Hamlets, a range of organisations were identified to ensure a suitable mix of opinions from all LAPs. A series of participation led activities and workshops ran throughout the consultation with peer to peer consultation instrumental in our approach. Each consultation team comprised of a project lead and at least two young people. With their help we were able to create dialogue with groups who otherwise might miss out. All activities were designed to allow London Borough of Tower Hamlets young people and residents the chance to input and shape the approach. Bold Creative worked with over 40 arts and cultural organisations across a three month period, to provide taster content that would help to engage young people as part of a series of accessible consultation activities which we now detail:
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WHAT WE DID
1
16
Tagmap
Tagmap, a digital online mapping tool created by Bold Creative was used as a key element of this consultation. Recording conversations with young people on camera allowed us to interpret detailed responses from over 150 young people and parents for this consultation. Developed over several years, it allows users to become citizen journalists for their community, making films and placing them on a map. The application gives young people a voice, allows a community to present itself online which is easily presentable to decision makers in local authority and central government. Over a three month period, Tagmap was used as a platform to collect the views and ideas of young people and their parents from across the borough, complemented with use of offline tool, Tagwagon.
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Tagwagon Workshops
One of the aims of the consultation was to provide young people and their parents with an opportunity to contribute to a conversation about arts and culture. The challenge we had was to help young people join the discussion in a way that was fun, accessible and focused on the aims of the project. Bold Creative was tasked with engaging groups who might not usually travel to arts and cultural activities. To help us do this, we used a 1963 campervan, the ‘Tagwagon’ which works as an offline engagement tool in the community. Designed to grab young people’s imagination, through workshops it captures either their scrawled or filmed opinions via blackboard exterior and an interior kitted out with video cameras and monitors respectively. Tagwagon was used to undertake a strategic tour of young people’s centres around the borough. Parking up in school playgrounds for instance, it didn’t take long for every panel to be covered in ideas and opinions regarding arts and culture. Working with the consultation team, young people were guided through a series of questions written on the exterior panels.
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As the wagon filled up with ideas on the outside, the inside played host to in-depth conversations with London Borough of Tower Hamlets residents who were invited to enter the Big Brother style ‘diary room’. As a form of ‘stealth learning’ it was helpful in encouraging young people to discuss arts and culture, what they like, why and what they would like to experience in the future. 91 people were consulted from seven Tagwagon workshops. Those interviewed in the ‘diary room’ had their conversations recorded and added to the map of opinions on the Tagmap platform.
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Tagmap Workshops
To reach a wide variety of groups, the Tagwagon approach was modified to support access to the consultation, particularly for young people with learning difficulties or disabilities. The Tagwagon technique was adapted to Tagmap workshops essentially taking the core element of the ‘diary room’ and simply using one or two Bold team members to sit with young people and their parents in environments they were more comfortable with. This low key, sensitive approach resulted in conversations that were relaxed and insightful. 66 people were consulted from six Tagmap workshops.
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Mobile Exhibition
Across four two-day events in differing locations, residents of London Borough of Tower Hamlets were given the opportunity to experience an ‘exhibition of Talent’ in some unusual locations in the borough including supermarkets, libraries and youth clubs. Families were able to take part in this interactive exhibition, designed to bring a bite sized taste of arts and culture to those who may not otherwise have had access. The exhibition asked passers-by to question their perceptions of arts and culture; what they liked; what stops them from enjoying it and how good arts and culture should make them feel. The exhibition evolved as the public contributed to the artefacts on display, adding their comments to create an evolving, growing piece of artwork and consultation activity. To raise awareness, this extended to designing arts and culture T-shirts, a selection of which were created and put on display for the two day festival as part of a competition to win a prize. 62 people were consulted through from four Mobile Exhibition workshops.
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Festival of Talent
The Festival of Talent was the centre piece of the consultation; allowing almost 3,000 young people and parents the opportunity to experience arts and cultural activities and take part in the consultation. As part of the Festival over 40 arts and cultural organisations, ranging from the Imperial War Museum to Rich Mix came together to offer an explosion of arts and cultural exhibits and taster sessions, performances and workshops. A large consultation team of young people encouraged visitors to fully explore the space and take part in the consultation and contribute their thoughts. On arrival, everyone was given a designed ‘Find Your Talent Trail’ questionnaire which on one side detailed the offering, on the other all consultation questions in a fun and engaging way to support participation. 2,689 people attended the festival, contributing 303 questionnaire responses.
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LIMITATIONS OF THE METHODOLOGY Our process engaged a large number of young people over the course of the three month consultation period. There were however a number of different challenges in really getting under the skin of what local residents think about arts and culture. One of the biggest challenges was the term “arts and culture” itself. It became clear early on in the project young people and adults were finding it a challenge to articulate what they thought counted. Each person had a different perspective, some very narrow, basing it on the activities that take place in their art class at school, others a very broad view. These varying perspectives, in particular the narrow ones, made it very difficult to create the dialogue the project required. To combat this, we developed a pack of Arts and Culture Cards detailing the activities set out in the original Find Your Talent prospectus. Participants were asked to select cards from the pack that they believed constituted arts and culture to them. This was very successful and provided not only an insight into their opinion on arts and culture, but also a fun framework and foundation for the rest of the conversation. There is a risk, however, that in some conversations young people will have been guided by the cards rather than coming up with their own definitions. Another issue we faced with the consultation was the timescale. The need to get results and feedback relatively quickly meant that it was difficult to develop a timetable for activities that suited every organisation we contacted.
It also limited the number of young people we were able to consult with directly. Whilst the focus of the project was on gathering qualitative insightful information from relatively small groups in any case, the time frame meant that we were often only able to get to one or two organisations in each of the LAPs. While we sought to open up the debate to a wider audience with an online questionnaire, this received only a very limited response, indicating that people preferred to consult face to face. An example of how successful this face to face approach was, was the Festival of Talent. The festival was fantastic in achieving one of the key objectives to raise local awareness and buy in of the initiative. This was achieved to some extent with demonstrable local media coverage, banners, flyers, word of mouth and wide spread stakeholder engagement. This all combined to bring a significantly above average attendance to the V&A Museum of Childhood. While this was very positive overall, we have had to be careful to ensure that the high numbers of responses captured as part of the festival have not distorted the findings of the consultation in any way. Overall, however, the consultation was very successful. Not only did we start to explore in some depth and detail young people’s and their families’ views on arts and culture, we also gave them something in return; a memorable taste of arts and culture.
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FINDINGS
2
34
CHAPTER 1 What does arts and culture mean to you? In order to help participants understand the context of the consultation we asked them to define what arts and culture meant to them. This created a framework for the conversations that followed. Of course, defining arts and culture is no easy task so we developed a series of arts and culture playing cards to help participants articulate their ideas. This especially helped when interviewing people as young as seven! Each card represented a different activity, all the participant had to do was pick out the ones they felt represented arts and culture to them.
Part of exploring participant’s reaction to arts and culture involved trying to get under the skin of the emotions that are evoked. How should good arts and culture make them feel? This emotional insight would allow us to recommend the types of activities that residents of London Borough of Tower Hamlets enjoy.
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HOW SHOULD GOOD ARTS AND CULTURE MAKE YOU FEEL? Cool and excited
Happy and boosts your personality
I think it should make you happy!!!
Happy and creative
1 2
Happy
5 3
4
6 7
Happy, proud and glad because you have done it and people will say it’s nice
8 Excited
Extremely happy and extremely excited!
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HOW SHOULD GOOD ARTS AND CULTURE MAKE YOU FEEL?
3% INSPIRED 4% ENJOYABLE 4% RELAXED 5% PROUD
30% HAPPY
6% FUN
6% GOOD 13% EXCITED
live music
40
Fashion
Live music What does arts and culture mean to you?
S
portable music
Portable music
4%
Playing instruments
5%
Enjoy architecture
5%
4%
5% Singing
Going to the cinema
Listen to the radio
2% 4%
5%
Visit the library
Visit heritage sites
5%
5% 5%
Dance
6% 6%
Film making
Visit museums
5%
Go to the theatre
6%
5% 3%
Go to the opera
Make sculptures
Painting
6% 5%
5% 3%
Poetry
Take photographs
Read comics Read books
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CONCLUSIONS The answers we received to this question were very broad, indicating that both young people and their families have a broad and rich understanding of what counts as arts and culture. As outlined in Part 1, the actual terms themselves were quite difficult for young people to get to grips with but once we started to talk about activities a wide range of responses were received. We didn’t find one particular set of activities that stood out more than any other throughout the consultation, and similarly the types of things that young people and their families mentioned were broadly consistent across all of the settings in all of the LAPs we visited. Linked to this we found no major differences between the reactions of young people with SEN we interviewed and other young people in the borough, indicating that young people tend to want the same thing. One interesting issue that came up was the relationship between the activities on the list in the original FYT prospectus and participation in community festivals which a number of those responding suggested should be considered just as much part of “culture� as a trip to the theatre or a concert. What came across from all young people was a clear sense that their experiences of arts and culture enriches their lives, allowing them to feel widespread positive emotions such as happiness, excitement and pride.
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CHAPTER 2 What’s the best arts and cultural activity you’ve ever done? What stands out as our participant’s most memorable arts and cultural activity? It could have been something they experienced in London Borough of Tower Hamlets or beyond. Defining these activities, London Borough of Tower Hamlets will be better positioned to bring new and similar activities to the borough as part of future offerings. We engaged in conversations around a whole host of activities, from painting, to graffiti, to street dancing right through to community festivals. For every activity mentioned we tried to get participants to explain what made it so memorable.
By understanding this we aim to be able to define not only a list of popular activities that could be developed in London Borough of Tower Hamlets, but also the reasons that make them so popular. We were also interested to explore any connection between certain activities and certain groups of participants.
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What’s the best artS and culturAL ACTIVITY you’ve ever done? Visiting art galleries because you get to draw in groups with your friends
Drawing, painting and sculpture, especially graffiti art because it’s messy and creative Face painting – it’s enjoyable and nice to see kids faces smile when you’re doing it
Cultural festivals because they attract everybody
1 2
Rapping and producing music – I love being creative with lyrics and music
5 3
4
6 7
I do break dancing and street dance
8 Dance because it keeps you fit and the music is good
Sculpture – it’s really exciting making our own thing
Drawing
SI NG
FIL M
IN G
MA KI NG
EST
IVA
L
JING 1% D
TY F UNI
IC
5%
2% C
GT OT
2%
G
G
IN
IN
HE
OMM
CTIN
AW DR
GO
1% FACE
2% MUSEUMS
7% A
7%
3%
E
13% DAN
CING
M
G
FO
EA TR
US
IN
RM
TH
R PE
E NC
O
OC GT
IN
GO
S
RT
ICS
OM
C ING
2% D REA 2%
SIC
MU NG TO TENI
IS
3% L
RUMENTS
2% PLAYING INST
1% LOOKING AT ARCHITECTURE
1% HERITAGE
2% GO
ING TO
2% P
MA IES
7% PAINTING
IN
GT OF
E
UR
IN
PT
UL
TA K
AD
GR
FI
SC
GO
RE
AF
%
PH OT OS ES 3% TIV GOI AL NG S TO ART GAL LER
2% 10
9%
GO
4%
C
G
IN
MUSE
TI
IN
G
SITE
UMS
OET
E IN
HE
OT GT
2%
What’s the best arts and cultural activity you’ve ever done?
2%
PAINTIN G
museums 2% DESIGNING THINGS
Acting
2%
48
RY
50
CONCLUSIONS Again the list of activities which came up here was quite broad, indicating the rich and varied experience that young people already have. No one activity stood out. A number of young people mentioned how much they enjoyed street dance and music that surrounds this activity such as R’n’B and Hip Hop, citing its links with popular culture as one of the things that they enjoyed. However, at the same time young people also indicated how much they had enjoyed activities such as sculpture which might be perceived as quite classical or high brow. This indicates the importance of not pigeon holing young people and the challenge of providing an offer which appeals to everybody. What both these activities have in common, however, are that they are quite active and allow participants to express themselves physically. This was something that came across in a number of other responses as well, and indicates that this is a key to getting young people fired up and enthusiastic. The responses of other family members were, however, quite different. When we talked to parents at children’s centres they quite often cited theatre and art galleries as their favourites, emphasising the social nature of the activity rather than the benefits they got from direct participation. This is an important difference that was repeated throughout the consultation and needs to be borne in mind when seeking to motivate parents, carers and families in London Borough of Tower Hamlets to engage with arts and cultural activities. As noted previously, one set of activities which got a positive reaction from both young people and families were local community festivals. This seems to suggest that there is scope to build on these and to develop some strong partnerships between cultural providers and community groups in the local area.
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CHAPTER 3 What arts and cultural activities would you like to do in the future? Where are the gaps in the activities on offer to residents in London Borough of Tower Hamlets? What would they like a taste of that they’ve not had chance to do before? Where should the local authority be looking to build on and compliment existing services? We asked this open question to give participants free reign on the range of activities put forwards, it is their opportunity to directly contribute to the future of arts and culture in the borough.
By comparing their suggestions with those that currently make up the offer, not only can we identify those that are most popular, but also any that the offer doesn’t currently include.
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What artS and culturAL ACTIVITIES would you like to do in the future? There should be a local radio studio with kids running the station – we could talk about issues in the community
Make clay models for an exhibition
Attend parties hosted by people from different cultures
Live Hip-hop and R’n’B music
1 2
I’d like to perform on a West End stage
5 3
4
6 7
A wall for young people to spray on!
8 Go to live concerts
Graffiti would be really fun and exciting
2%
OR
AD
OO
RE B AD
6%
TO
T
E
CO
TH
MI CS
R OG T HO AP
P 1% VI SIT
3%
1%
GO
2%
SIN
GIN G
S IC
DINGS 1% M U
2% LOOK ING AT B UIL
1% OPERA 1% GO TO LIBRARY
1% POE TO TRY FE STI VA L S 4% 1% GR VI AF SI FI T TI M US 1% E U DJ MS IN G 1%
TH EA TR E
6% RF
PE
KS
AW
DR
S
ITE
ES
G TA
RI
HE
CE
N DA 5%
7% PAINT
SP
HY
TO TH GO E TO CI MO NE RE M A 4% CA LEA R INS N R IV TRU N TO AL P ME S NTS LAY
6% LIVE
RE
GO
GO
2%
E UR PT UL SC
1%
2%
14%
What arts and culture things would you like to do in the future? 2%
2%
go to the theatre sculpture
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S AY
EC
T
MUSIC
PL
R DI
M OR
5% FAS HION
2% DJ
SI
LI V U EM
ON
6% T
AC
C
5% DESIG N THINGS
6% FILM MA KING
RAD IO
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WHERE DO YOU ENJOY ARTS AND CULTURE? The Museum of Childhood
At school
1 2
At home
Right here at the Museum of Childhood
Home and at school
5 3
4
6 7
At school
8 At school
At Canary Wharf at a Christmas event
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CONCLUSIONS What came across in the responses to this question was that many of the young people interviewed just wanted their current experiences extended or deepened. While this is really positive in that it shows a high level of satisfaction with the existing offer in the local area, it is also a reflection of the fact that many of the young people found it quite difficult to talk about activities they’ve never done before. Activities that allow participants to express themselves physically and with energy were popular. The importance of “community” and activities that bring people together also came across strongly, indicating that there is a real scope for Find Your Talent to try and develop activities that support the goals of London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Another theme that came up repeatedly in interviews was the importance of giving young people a creative platform to express themselves and be heard. While young people often appear to be happy creating in their spare time they seemed to want support in getting this out to a wider audience. This could be in an art gallery, however also in spaces such as street dance, graffiti walls and radio. There was a real sense that the bigger the audience the better! Popular cultural references such as X Factor and Britains Got Talent could be a good format to base these platforms on. They are popular shows that young people already engage well with.
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CHAPTER 4 How often do you enjoy arts and culture? How often are our young people enjoying arts and cultural activities? What are they doing daily, weekly or once a year? What would make them take part in more? Is there an opportunity or need to provide certain activities on a more regular basis? Is there a need to promote them? Conversations around these questions allow us to identify those activities that take place regularly and that can be built upon to reach those less likely to take part in the offer. It also identifies where more provision could be made on a more regular basis and provides ideas on how to overcome some of the barriers stopping residents from taking part more often.
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What would make you take part in more artS and culture activities? More competitions!
More SEN focused activities
Lower cost, more publicity and more opportunities
Publishing it better so I know about it
1 2
If more of my friends did it with me
5 3
4
6 7
More advertising
8 Having more free time
More variety
66
How often do you enjoy the arts and culture activities that make up ‘the offer’?
More than once a week
Never
20%
Once a week
35%
13% 7% Once a year
5%
8%
6% 6%
Once every six months
More than once a month Once every three months Once a month
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CONCLUSIONS It was clear from responses to this question that young people interviewed took part in arts and cultural activities on a fairly regular basis. The majority of young people interviewed indicated that they experience arts and culture through their school, indicating that local schools are successfully delivering a diverse cross section of arts and culture activities to their students. Young People were very positive about this across all LAPs and across almost all settings. The results indicated that young people participated in fewer formal arts and cultural activities outside of school (only 14% of young people interviewed said that they did this regularly). This may reflect difficulty in terms of some of the terminology used, but it still indicates the importance in finding ways of seeking to engage young people and their families in shared activities. One of the big things that came through strongly in response to this question was the way that young people do enjoy more “informal� cultural activities in their spare time. This is partly driven by technology. Listening to portable music is clearly a very popular activity, but young people also cited reading as being popular. Again this is an important finding as it indicates that there is a huge amount of independent creativity going on and that one of the challenges of FYT is to try and capture, support and develop this.
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CHAPTER 5 What barriers stop you from enjoying arts and culture? What are the obstacles preventing our young people and their families from undertaking the arts and cultural activities in London Borough of Tower Hamlets today? How can the local authority help residents overcome these obstacles? Are the obstacles related to the offer or social and personal reasons? What’s keeping them from the arts and culture activities taking place on their doorstep? Having given participants the opportunity to give us a rounded view of their experience of arts and culture in their borough, our final question is aimed at getting to the root cause of any obstacles. Do residents have their own ideas
on how to make more arts and cultural activities accessible? Are activities accessible either in terms of perception or availability for instance? This information, combined with that gleaned through the consultation should provide a valuable insight into precisely how to make sure that every person within London Borough of Tower Hamlets has every opportunity to access the arts and culture they need to enrich their lives.
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What barriers stop you from enjoying arts and culture? The lack of communication
I am seven and it costs money
Sometimes it’s not accessible enough
Distance and the lack of advertising
1 2
There’s always something to do, but it’s not always for my age
5 3
4
6 7
Not enough time
8 Absolutely nothing!
It’s not always easy to access
T
OR
SP
AN
TR AC
VI
TI
TI E
S
S ES
OF
EN
R WA /A
4%
N
O TI MA
R FO
CK
IN
LA
3% MONEY
%
E
55% NOTHING
MI ROXI 7% P
TY 1
What barriers stop you from enjoying arts and culture activities in London Borough of Tower Hamlets?
10
TIM 6%
2%
74
76
1% MORE ACCESSIBLE TO DISABILITIES
OR M E LA CA
L
LO CT IV IT
IVIT
IES
IN G
JO B
1% MORE EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES
T
A
1% MORE VENUES
EE
4%
FR
2%
S IE
ACT
1% IT SHOULD BE FUN
GE
O AT SCHO
%
ORE
1% ANYTHING GAME RELATED
2% IF MOR MY EM US FA IC MI AC LY TIV 1% DID ITI ES IT IF W IT IT HE H LP ME ED
5% MORE
10
ENE
RAL
1% MORE SEN FOCUSED ACTIVITIES
14% MORE TIME
5%
IF
E EN
FR
ND
ME
DI
D
M 3%
IT
W
IT
H
E
OR CE
AC
RE MO
%
25
M
Y
S
9%
O
RE
AR AW
M
IE
SS
SS IB
AFF
LE
E
ABL ORD
2% SOMEONE TO TAKE
What would make you take part in more arts and culture activities?
9% M
2%MORE FAM ILY ORIENTATE D
1% MORE FACILITIES FOR TODDLERS
M
E
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REPORT CONCLUSIONS
In drawing together all our conclusions, the overriding factor is that there is already a good arts and cultural offer being provided to young people in London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Many of the most enjoyable activities mentioned are already part of London Borough of Tower Hamlets’ core offer. We can reason that the focus should not be a matter of sweeping changes but of building upon existing services. This should be factored in as London Borough of Tower Hamlets goes forward with commissioning arts and cultural partners to provide additional services. Comparing the habits of mainstream groups to young people with SEN, both groups interviewed appear to enjoy a similar experience of arts and culture underlining a possible need for the same level of provision for young people with SEN. The findings are encouraging but some caution is required at this stage due to the small scale of numbers interviewed. Further research would be recommended such as mapping the habits of a broader range of young people with SEN from different LAP areas in the borough. Questions around “best” demonstrated activities that allow young people to physically express themselves appear to be popular. Dance is currently one of the most popular
activities referenced, a fact that may be influenced by virtue of current popular cultural phenomena amongst young people such as music and TV formats, e.g. X Factor; R’N’B music, Strictly Come Dancing. Activities embedded in popular culture seemingly allow young people to emulate their heroes which could be an explanation for this. Going to local community festivals were unexpected additions in defining “best” activity – a fact that could be explained with the high proportion of Bangladeshi and Muslim residents in the borough. Examining the opportunity to pair arts and culture partners with community festivals to provide a broad range of activities could be a good way of reaching groups within the community who are less likely to access any offer, and thereby support integration and community cohesion. Considering what young people and parents would like to do in the future, a key emotive incentive referenced was that young people have a strong sense of wanting to be heard. They have a strong sense of identity and it follows they would benefit from an activity they can be proud of.
80
Following this theme, activities that allow young people to be heard should be examined further, such as having their output widely seen in a variety of ways through arts and cultural partner venues. Incentives like this to support young people directly experiencing some kind of broader peer validation may be of value. Looking at how often young people undertake an arts and cultural activity, prioritising increased participation with hard to reach groups could be driven by providing inexpensive activities which are appropriately marketed and sympathetic to the target group. Awareness is a factor as while the offer is clearly diverse and varied, a lack of knowledge was often cited more broadly as a reason for not undertaking a specific activity. While we would need to do further research in this area, it appears young people undertake few formal and structured activities outside of school preferring activities such as listening to music and also those that are relatively inexpensive. There appears to be an issue of perceived cost of various activities which is off putting to families and young people in further exploring what’s on offer.
On the whole, the more expensive, or perceived cost, and higher individual effort of the activity, the less frequently it occurs. For example, activities such as visiting the cinema and museums are undertaken monthly if not less frequently. London Borough of Tower Hamlets may therefore want to examine ways of driving awareness of activities available locally to young people, such as increased marketing in new media which would also help to break pre-conceptions of value and expense. In trying to identify the barriers in question for restricting any take up of activities by young people, the most striking statistic drawn is that over 50% of respondents stated nothing stopped them from enjoying arts and cultural activities in their borough. What does this indicate? Issues of awareness may be a factor. There is a good general awareness it seems of the venues but not the activities. We would also recommend further research undertaken into the issue of proximity which was also referenced. It may be of benefit for instance to further examine the effect of territoriality on young people and how this might impact on their uptake of arts and cultural activities.
82
REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary This was a relatively short consultation and one of the things that we would recommend is a longer term look at some of the issues which have been flagged up in this report. However, some initial ideas that have come out of the consultation which we would recommend the Find Your Talent team consider include some of the following:
Mini Festivals Young people have cited community festivals as something they enjoy. There may be a benefit for arts and culture taster activities under one roof, which would provide an opportunity to explore many interests. Young people could be allowed to curate their own festival through existing schools communications. This would support buy-in and awareness of the offer. Young people are likely to gain a sense of pride and peer validation by having the opportunity and space to have their arts and culture contributions seen and heard. This could be through activities in galleries and radio shows.
This format is already popular in national entertainment formats such as X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent. This could be adapted to a local level, allowing young people to showcase their skills in a popular, tried and tested format. There is also reach to use this format a variety of scales. From very small events in the community such as in youth clubs and community halls, right up to LAP based events through to shows designed to attract the whole borough.
Supporting Awareness Improved awareness of arts and cultural activities in the borough could be gained by a targeted communication campaign. It would be designed to encourage families to try the range of cultural activities on offer. Further consultation in this area could map groups within the borough and explore the best way of communicating with them.
84
Family Activities / Games Appropriate activities that both young people and parents can enjoy together should be considered in future programmes. These could be activities that occur within the borough, or even in resident’s own homes.
Local Celebration / Discussions Residents could benefit from being provided outlets for celebrating and discussing arts and culture on a local level in a way they are comfortable engaging with. This would be an opportunity for London Borough of Tower Hamlets to capture, showcase and celebrate the arts and culture that their residents engage in. This could take inspiration from activities such as book clubs or local radio “phone in�. Not only would this allow the wider community to receive recommendations on arts and cultural activities by their peers, but also reinforce the fact that there is a rich offering in London Borough of Tower Hamlets enjoyed by wide cross section of its inhabitants.
86
ANNEX - CORE DATA
3
5
5
6
7
8
Number of people asked
9
18
8
4
11
13
3
14
11
15
24
25
Age range (Yrs)
Adults
12 – 15
8 – 12
Adults
13 – 14
13 – 18
15 – 16
11 – 16
11 – 14
11 – 17
7 – 10
7 – 10
Live music
5
6
5
6
4
4
4
8
15
8
5
5
Portable music
3
5
3
1
5
7
0
2
0
8
4
4
Playing instruments
6
6
3
6
5
5
4
5
0
4
5
5
Singing
4
6
5
7
4
8
4
3
0
8
4
5
Going to cinema
6
4
5
3
6
5
8
2
15
4
6
6
Dance
7
6
8
4
5
8
8
7
23
8
5
5
Film making
5
6
5
6
5
5
8
2
0
5
4
4
Going to theatre
6
6
8
1
6
4
8
5
0
7
4
5
Going to opera
5
4
5
6
3
1
4
3
0
3
2
2
Poetry
6
3
6
6
5
7
4
7
0
8
5
5
Reading books
7
3
6
7
3
4
0
5
8
3
4
6
Reading comics
1
4
3
1
6
1
4
3
0
3
4
3
Taking photographs
5
6
5
6
6
3
8
8
0
5
5
6
Painting
7
6
5
6
4
5
8
5
15
3
6
7
Making sculptures
6
5
9
7
5
3
4
7
15
3
6
6
Visiting museums
4
6
5
6
5
7
4
3
8
4
6
4
Visiting heritage sites
6
6
6
4
5
7
8
3
0
4
4
4
Visiting the library
3
2
1
6
3
4
8
3
0
3
4
5
Listening to the radio
3
2
2
1
4
3
0
2
0
4
3
2
Enjoying architecture
3
6
3
6
5
3
4
10
0
1
5
4
Fashion
3
6
3
7
4
7
4
8
0
4
6
4
School (%)
Our Ladies Catholic
4
Harbinger Primary
Kingsley Hall (%)
3
School (%)
Central Foundation
2
Needs School (%)
Third Base (%)
2
Phoenix Special
St Hildas (%)
1
School (%)
Harpley School (%)
Children's Centre (%)
1
Collingwood
V+A Museum of
1
Childhood (%)
Morpeth School (%)
Lap
Club (%)
What does arts and culture mean to you?
Children's 1 O'Clock
88
3
14
11
15
24
25
Age range (Yrs)
Adults
12 – 15
8 – 12
Adults
13 – 14
13 – 18
15 – 16
11 – 16
11 – 14
11 – 17
7 – 10
7 – 10
Harbinger
13
(%)
11
Our Ladies
4
(%)
8
Kingsley Hall
18
(%)
9
Needs School
Number of people asked
Museums
0
0
0
0
10
17
0
9
0
0
0
0
Drawing
7
8
0
0
10
0
0
27
6
7
7
7
Acting
0
15
17
0
0
0
0
9
29
0
0
0
Going to theatre
4
0
0
18
0
0
0
9
0
0
0
0
Dancing
11
15
83
9
0
0
50
9
6
20
7
14
Going to the cinema
4
4
0
9
20
0
50
9
0
20
7
17
Taking photos
11
0
0
0
0
0
0
9
0
0
0
0
Going to festivals
0
4
0
0
0
17
0
9
0
0
0
0
Going to art galleries
0
4
0
18
0
0
0
9
0
0
0
7
Painting
11
4
0
9
10
0
0
0
6
7
14
7
Sculpture
4
8
0
0
10
0
0
0
18
0
24
17
Graffiti
4
0
0
0
20
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
Reading
19
0
0
0
0
17
0
0
6
0
0
3
Poetry
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
7
Going to museums
7
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
Heritage site
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
7
0
0
Looking at architecture
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
Playing instruments
4
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
0
3
0
Listening to music
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
7
10
Reading comics
0
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
Going to concerts
0
4
0
9
0
0
0
0
0
7
0
0
Performing music
0
8
0
0
0
0
0
0
18
0
0
0
Singing
0
12
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
27
7
0
Film making
0
8
0
0
10
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
Community festival
0
0
0
9
0
33
0
0
0
0
0
0
Djing
0
0
0
9
0
17
0
0
0
0
0
0
Face painting
0
0
0
0
10
0
0
0
0
7
0
0
Designing things
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
10
0
Fashion
0
0
0
9
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
(%)
Primary School
Catholic School
Phoenix Special
8
School (%)
Central
7
Foundation
Third Base (%)
6
(%)
St Hildas (%)
Harpley School
5
Centre (%)
5
Children's
4
Collingwood
3
(%)
2
of Childhood
2
V+A Museum 1
(%)
1
(%)
1
O'Clock Club
Lap
Children's 1
What’s the best arts and culture thing you’ve ever done?
Morpeth School
90
15
24
25
Age range (Yrs)
Adults
12 – 15
8 – 12
Adults
13 – 14
13 – 18
15 – 16
11 – 16
11 – 14
11 – 17
7 – 10
7 – 10
Sculpture
0
5
0
13
20
0
0
27
11
0
16
26
Go to the theatre
0
0
0
0
10
17
0
9
0
0
0
0
Sport
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
9
0
0
0
0
Read comics
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
9
0
0
0
4
Fashion
0
10
0
25
0
0
0
9
0
0
4
0
Live music
0
5
0
13
10
0
100
18
0
0
0
4
Read books
0
0
0
0
10
0
0
9
0
0
0
0
Photography
13
10
0
13
0
0
0
9
0
17
4
0
Go to the cinema
13
0
0
13
10
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Go to more carnivals
13
0
0
0
0
33
0
0
0
0
0
0
Learn to play instruments
25
10
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
Paint
25
0
0
0
20
0
0
0
22
0
12
0
Dance
13
5
0
0
0
17
0
0
0
17
8
0
Visit heritage site
0
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Draw
0
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
11
0
4
4
Act
0
10
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
17
8
13
Dj on radio
0
10
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Film making
0
10
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
17
8
9
Design things
0
10
0
0
0
17
0
0
0
0
0
13
Perform live music
0
5
0
13
0
17
0
0
33
17
0
0
Direct plays
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
11
0
0
0
Djing
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
11
0
0
0
Visit museums
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
0
Graffiti
0
0
0
0
10
0
0
0
0
0
12
4
Go to festivals
0
0
0
0
10
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Poetry
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
0
Singing
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
8
4
Music
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
0
Looking at buildings
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
17
4
0
Go to library
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
Go to art gallery
0
0
0
13
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
Opera
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
Primary
11
Harbinger
14
School (%)
3
Catholic
13
Our Ladies
11
(%)
4
School (%)
8
School (%)
Kingsley Hall
Special Needs
18
Phoenix
9
School (%)
Number of people asked
Foundation
8
Central
7
(%)
Third Base
6
School (%)
5
Harpley
5
Centre (%)
4
Children's
3
Collingwood
2
(%)
St Hildas (%)
of Childhood
V+A Museum
2
School (%)
1
Morpeth 1
(%)
What arts and culture things would you like to do in the future?
O'Clock Club
1
Children's 1 Lap
92
Never (%)
Once a year (%)
Once every six months (%)
(%)
Once every three months
More than once per month (%)
Once per month (%)
(%)
Once a week
(%)
How often do you enjoy arts and culture?
More than once a week
94
Live music
3
8
3
3
8
9
8
3
Portable music
11
3
3
2
2
2
2
4
Playing instruments
5
10
5
2
3
4
5
4
Singing
9
9
2
2
2
1
3
3
Going to the cinema
1
2
11
11
13
8
3
4
Dance
4
11
6
5
4
4
4
4
Film making
1
1
1
1
1
4
5
10
Go to the theatre
0
0
3
5
8
12
22
4
Go to the opera
0
0
1
0
1
1
5
12
Read poetry
3
5
6
12
5
4
3
5
Read books
18
4
2
1
1
3
1
1
Read comics
5
4
6
4
2
3
3
6
Take photographs
6
6
7
6
3
3
2
4
Paint
6
11
6
7
2
1
2
3
Make sculptures
2
3
6
5
11
5
2
6
Visit museums
2
3
11
10
14
10
10
1
Visit heritage sites
1
1
5
7
9
12
12
4
Visit the library
4
8
9
7
6
3
1
3
Listen to the radio
12
4
2
2
1
1
1
4
Enjoy architecture
5
3
4
4
4
7
2
6
Make clothes (fashion)
2
2
2
3
2
3
5
9
Other
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
96
What barriers stop you from enjoying arts and culture activities in Tower Hamlets?
Education
LAP 1
LAP 2
LAP 3
LAP 4
LAP 5
LAP 6
LAP 7
LAP 8
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
General (%)
Total (%)
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Money
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
Information/awareness
26
0
0
0
22
0
0
50
8
10
Time
9
33
0
0
22
0
0
0
4
6
Lack of SEN focused activities
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Needs to be more accessible
0
17
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Proximity - don't live in Tower hamlets
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
22
17
Age
0
0
0
0
0
14
0
0
0
0
Lack of activities
0
0
0
0
0
0
50
0
3
2
Childcare
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Transport
0
0
50
0
0
0
0
50
4
4
Too exclusive
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Nothing
52
50
50
100
56
86
50
0
55
55
98
What would make you take part in more arts and culture activities?
More at school
LAP 1
LAP 2
LAP 3
LAP 4
LAP 5
LAP 6
LAP 7
LAP 8
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
General (%)
Total (%)
27
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
5
More local activities
20
17
0
0
20
50
0
0
7
10
More Activities in general
20
17
0
0
0
0
0
100
7
9
More SEN focused activities
7
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
More awareness
13
17
100
0
0
0
0
0
26
23
Someone to take me
13
17
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
More affordable
0
17
0
0
0
0
0
0
10
9
More accessible
0
17
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
If my friends did it with me
0
0
0
100
20
50
0
0
4
5
More weekend events
0
0
0
0
20
0
0
0
1
2
More time
0
0
0
0
40
0
0
0
16
14
More venues
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
More educational activities
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
Free
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
4
If it helped get a job
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
If my family did it with me
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
More music activities
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
2
More festivals
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
Anything game related
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
It should be fun
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
More accessible to disabilities
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
More facilities for toddlers
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
More family oriented
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
More activities for a wider age range
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
100