AWESOME AUTUMN PROGRAMME
PROJECT REVIEW 2020
1332
HOURS OF ACTIVITIES FOR YOUNG CARERS
TOTAL OF
873
PARTICIPANTS
135 EVENTS OVER
3
MONTHS
22
AWESOME AUTUMN PROGRAMME PROJECT REVIEW 2020
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
4
AWESOME AUTUMN
6
VIRTUAL EVENTS
10
PHOTOGRAPHY TRIPS
12
TRIPS OUT
14
TEAM YAC
16
OUR DONORS
17
PROGRAMME FEEDBACK
18
GET IN TOUCH
20
3
3
INTRODUCTION
AWESOME AUTUMN PROGRAMME PROJECT REVIEW 2020
At Cheshire Young Carers we understand how challenging and isolating the school holidays can be, which is why we put so much effort into activity programmes covering these holiday periods. 2020, a year simply like no other, was incredibly challenging so the activities being delivered were especially important to everybody involved. From this review you can see the range of activities, including a small number of face-to-face events, plus the really creative ways in which our activities team have risen to the various challenges of delivering online activities. Like everybody else we are desperate to meet up face to face but we have to be guided by the rules and advice so we can keep our young people and staff safe. Hopefully at some point next year we will get back to more normal ways of supporting young carers. I really hope that everybody who took part in this half term series of activities had a great time. Thank you for supporting the programme this half term and thank you to Cheshire Young Carers’ staff who truly put their heart and soul into our activities and support.
Thank you,
Graham Phillips Graham Phillips Managing Director Cheshire Young Carers
44
HALLOWEEN ACTIVITY PACK!
HALLOWEEN WELLBEING ANIMATION!
55
AWESOME AUTUMN The term-time programme at Cheshire Young Carers undertook several changes in 2020 to adapt to Covid-19 restrictions. The Awesome Autumn programme took a blended approach, with most content being delivered online and a small number of face to face trips being delivered. The biggest change to the programme saw young carers from all over Cheshire in a session as opposed to running separate events local to each young carer, allowing the children to socialise on a bigger scale and have a wider option of activities to choose from. Sessions were delivered weekly instead of fortnightly and that resulted in greater attendance. Each Tuesday was filled with an enrichment activity, giving young carers an opportunity to try out a new activity or develop a skill. Wednesdays have become our popular ‘Wacky Wednesdays’ which are very sociable for young carers, where all ages come together and try out different challenges and play games. When we were able to deliver them, face to face events took place in Covid safe recreational venues where young carers were so happy to reunite with their friends. Trivia Thursdays have become a tradition since the beginning of the pandemic, with families looking forward to the Bingo and Quiz nights on alternating weeks.
TIMEOUT TUESDAYS Every Tuesday young carers had the opportunity to engage in an exciting workshop, learn something new and have fun together. Throughout the Summer Programme, we asked young carers if there were any workshops and events they particularly enjoyed and would like to try again during the Autumn Programme. We listened to their feedback and incorporated their favourite activities into Timeout Tuesdays and booked more outreach sessions to keep content fresh and engaging.
Family Cooking With our Awesome Autumn recipe book sent out prior to the sessions, young carers and their families would arrive on Zoom very excited to cook a yummy meal with their freshly bought ingredients. Each meal had a slight autumnal theme and sessions were very popular. Sarah would demonstrate live from her kitchen, with young carers following along in their own homes as well as answering their questions. Some of the young carers adapted recipes to suit dietary requirements and were able to ask how to cook the dishes with those changes. Throughout the Awesome Autumn young carers cooked Enchiladas, Butternut Squash and Chicken Pie with Mashed Potatoes and Vegetables.
6
AWESOME AUTUMN Mindfulness and Yoga During Covid-19 restrictions, we are even more mindful of the wellbeing of young carers and how we can help to improve that within our sessions. Over the summer we trialled yoga with instructor Amy leading sessions, many young carers had never tried this before but thoroughly enjoyed it, so we returned again with an Awesome Autumn workshop. The first half of the session the Cheshire Young Carers activity team used a variety of activities to create a therapeutic atmosphere for young carers to relax and unwind. In the second half of the session, we were joined by Amy who led 40 minutes of Yoga for young carers to connect the body with the breath to relax and calm the mind.
Baking Our baking sessions revealed just how many of our young carers (and staff!) have a sweet tooth! Following a similar style session to Family Cooking we also ran 2 Baking Sessions where young carers put on their aprons and put their new skills to the test as they baked lovely treats. Many let us know in Wacky Wednesday sessions just a day later that there were not many treats left so they were definitely enjoyed a lot by young carers and their families. During the Awesome Autumn programme, young carers baked Carrot Cake, Chocolate Brownies and Blondies as requested by the young carers themselves.
Outreach With the vast majority of our delivery being online, our team is constantly looking for new ideas and ways to deliver activities. With the popularity of the animal outreach sessions that we delivered in summer, we decided to look for more. This led to a great session with Essex Reptiles where young carers were able to meet many different species, from snakes to lizards! As well as this, we had a unique and exciting session with some of the team who work at Old Trafford Stadium learning about some of Manchester United’s history and fun facts. We also combined the skillset of the Cheshire Young Carers team by delivering a singing and dancing workshop. The session was thoroughly enjoyed and a chance for young carers to come out of their comfort zone in a different way.
719
AWESOME AUTUMN WACKY WEDNESDAYS Every other Wednesday, young carers from all ages across Cheshire came together for a competitive and fun session on Zoom. These evenings have been great ways for the young carers to socialise with the activity team. Young carers were split into teams to follow a series of challenges and games, these included brainteasers, riddles, scavenger hunts and always ended up with some light-hearted competitiveness (from staff too!). At the end of every session young carers would be eager to suggest their favourite games to play, which would be incorporated into the next session. We have seen many new friendships being formed in these sessions in ways that wouldn’t have been possible without Zoom! On alternating Wednesdays, young carers had the opportunity to attend a trip to a covid-safe venue. Young carers enjoyed trips to Fun4All and Freedome Trampolining Centre.
TRIVIA THURSDAYS Delivering our programmes digitally has allowed some young carers and their families favourite sessions to come to life. A popular event since the beginning of the pandemic has definitely been Bingo, which soon led to the addition of Quiz nights. Following feedback from families, we quickly saw that this was to continue for the foreseeable future as it is enjoyed so much! Each Thursday, families gathered around their devices and went head-to-head to see if they could reach the top of the leader board for a prize. This brought out the competitive side of the young carers and their families, as well as bringing them all together. It was lovely to see them all talking to each other on the live chat, sharing jokes and congratulating each other when they won.
8 18
9 19
VIRTUAL EVENTS
PAINTING During the summer, the creativity and painting skills of young truly blossomed. Feedback from those sessions showed they wanted to develop those skills further, so another session was arranged but this time with a spooky Halloween theme. The young carers learnt how to use watercolours, how to add shape and details to bring their pumpkin paintings to life, as well as creating pumpkin designs that could be used as simple handmade greeting cards. The group loved adding silly and spooky faces to their pumpkins, giving each pumpkin a unique charming personality. All the children then tried techniques using acrylic paints to create a spooky moonlight silhouette of a haunted house. The painting workshops are a simple creative escape for the young carers which they can take part in from the comfort of their homes. As well as learning new skills, the workshops allow every child to engage in casual conversation with familiar faces in a calming environment, which is one of the things they like most about the workshops.
10
OCT
26
HALF-TERM HALLOWEEN PARTY
OCT
24
Due to changes in restrictions, our Crewe Halloween party had to be quickly rearranged to an online event. To make this session as fun as possible, we sent each young carer a package including craft activities and some Halloween goodies. Young carers arrived in their costumes and were very excited! In the first half of the session, we played music, enjoyed sweets, and decorated our crafts with paint. Young carers enjoyed creating and sharing their own mystical stories on the spooky characters they had created. In the second half of the session, everyone carved pumpkins ready to display for Halloween. Despite the party being virtual, the young carers had lots of fun from the comfort of their own home.
MINECRAFT This year has introduced many new ways of delivering that wouldn’t have been possible in a face-to-face environment and Minecraft is a great example. A Cheshire Young Carers’ Minecraft realm was built on the Minecraft server, this was open for several sessions a week with access granted to young carers via a specific code. In the summer, the virtual land originally built for the young carers had to be extended multiple times because they were enjoying building the space so much! After its success, we decided to revamp the realm in Halloween style and run more sessions across the half-term programme.
Staff built treasure hunts and other games which the young carers loved. The most popular time during the session was where young carers could build freely. To begin with they all built their own houses, and amazed staff with how good they were at the game! Soon enough there was a Subway, Shopping Mall, Archery Centre, Scuba Diving Centre, and Rollercoaster amongst plenty of games made by the young carers! All the young carers involved have claimed ownership of this virtual space they have proudly built together.
11
PHOTOGRAPHY TRIPS OCT
27
OCT
28
OCT
29
OCT
30
Throughout October Half-Term, we ran a series of photography trips in towns, cities, and villages across Cheshire. Young carers were provided with a camera to use and were able to choose between three different types of camera; a Canon DSLR, Canon Point and Shoot or a GoPro. On each trip the young carers were given the choice to do a variety of tasks that encouraged them to think creatively and experiment with the cameras in different ways.
Whilst in parks and woodland areas, young carers were given a nature scavenger hunt to complete. As part of this task, the young carers were asked to find things such as different autumnal colours, animals and light in various forms. Each young carer had to take a photo that was different to their friends, challenging them to slow down their process and consider what they were photographing to see how they could make their images unique. Young carers experimented with a variety of composition techniques including vantage point, framing and leading lines.
Young carers also carried out a wellbeing task that focused on how photography can be used to convey emotions. Georgia and the young carers discussed how images could make people feel different ways and used that concept to create their own thought-provoking photographs. Young carers were challenged to take photographs that could make them feel; happy, sad, excited, angry, grateful and bored. The underlying focus of this task was for young carers to understand that we all experience emotions in different ways as we all have individual experiences, likes and dislikes. This task was also a useful tool for young carers to see how they can use creative practice as an outlet for their emotions. Inspired by the popularity of our fortnightly bingo, we created a photography bingo challenge for the young carers to complete. Each bingo sheet was different, and the winners were rewarded with some Halloween sweets! This stimulated creative conversations between everyone about what they could photograph. There were also tasks that encouraged them to engage with each other, by asking them to take a photograph of someone they didn’t know very well.
612
ACROSS CHESHIRE After completing the photography tasks, young carers were treated to lunch at a restaurant. Every young carers was excited to choose their meal and chat with each other about using the cameras. The staff used the time to talk to the young carers about how they were coping with school and free time under the restrictions and the favourite parts of our Autumn events and trips.
BLAKEMERE WOODLAND CHESTER
CREWE
MACCLESFIELD
ALL IMAGES TAKEN BY YOUNG CARERS!
The trips were very successful, the cameras allowed simple walks through parks, woodlands, cities and town centres to become an engaging space to learn photography skills and enjoy time together. Young carers are very keen to use the cameras again and thoroughly appreciated using them this half-term.
13
TRIPS OUT AFTERNOON WITH ALPACAS
OCT
28
This was a first for many young carers - and an experience that they will not forget! We visited Oakmere Alpacas where we met some extremely fluffy and very cheeky residents. Most of the young carers had never seen or touched an alpaca before, and it was such a magical moment for everyone. Each young carer was given their own alpaca to look after and take by lead on a short walk. They were also given a bag of food to feed the Alpacas with. This heartwarming trip benefitted the young carers in multiple ways. The presence of the alpacas provided comedy and laughter and was also a fun and calming activity which helped the young carers enjoy the outdoors.
It was the first trip with Cheshire Young Carers for some children and the alpacas created an easy and less intimidating approach for them to settle in with the group and create conversations with the other young carers. Those who felt shy at the beginning of the trip really grew in confidence as the day went on. The Alpacas gave the young carers a responsibility that they really enjoyed, like taking care of a pet or a friend, becoming quite attached to the alpacas, and young carers enjoyed talking to the alpacas and loved interacting with each other by having running races and comparing each of the alpaca’s characteristics. They finished off the afternoon with refreshments, sandwiches and cake, with feedback from all of the children that they would like to come back.
14
7
TRIPS OUT HALLOWEEN PARTY
OCT
30
The young carers were so excited to put on their spooky costumes and join us for an afternoon of Halloween themed games and activities. They took part in a range of party games like ‘fishes on the sea’ and ‘hide and seek’ and getting competitive in some silly relay races. The young carers carved their own pumpkins, some being as big as them! They loved being able to take them home too and showing their families what they had created. With a big outdoor space to explore at the scout hut, the young carers loved playing games in the small wood and trying to find little pumpkins which were hidden inside. They had so much fun in the outdoors, and even loved getting a little muddy! In true Halloween spirit of course each young carer got a little party bag fully of spooky treats and crafts they could do at home.
KNUTSFORD TREASURE HUNT
OCT
28
A small group of young carers met in Knutsford to complete a cryptic treasure trail around the town centre. The group had to work together as a team to look for clues and solve the cryptic riddles, each one leading to the next part of the trail. There was even a little time to enjoy the play area at The Moor before completing the trail. The young carers enjoyed sitting down for a meal together, a time to relax together, share stories and chat as well as try new food.
15
YOUNG ADULT CARERS Photography trip to Chester Young Adult Carers (YACs) enjoyed using cameras on a trip to Chester City Centre. Half of the group met Claire and Georgia at Crewe Station where they safely travelled to Chester and met the other half of the group in Chester with Sarah. The group were provided with a variety of cameras to use; a Canon DSLR, Canon Point and Shoot or a GoPro. On the trip the young carers were given the choice to complete a variety of tasks that encouraged them to think creatively and experiment with the cameras in different ways. The trip began with a walk around Grosvenor Park, YACs were given free time to enjoy the tasks at their leisure. After this, everybody met up and walked into Chester city centre where they were given another task and some more free time. The trip was finished with a trip to Bella Italia where YACs enjoyed some Italian cuisine and shared their images with each other.
Go Karting During the Easter holidays YACs were booked on to a Go Karting session at TeamSports in Warrington which was cancelled within the first lockdown. When we started to plan our Autumn programme, we asked the group what they would most like to do for our first face to face trip and the unanimous decision of course was Go Karting. Groups met at Crewe and Chester railway stations and abiding with all the Covid guidelines travelled by train to Warrington.
OCT
26
OCT
27
The groups met up and walked the short distance to TeamSports where they were given safety clothing and helmets and sat through the safety briefing. Soon all were racing around the track (some a little quicker than others!) seeing the leaderboard at the end of the first race encouraged some strong competition for the next race. After racing everyone enjoyed pizza before travelling home. It was lovely to see some of the young carers moving up to the YAC group and others on their first trip, the groups may have been quiet when they met up at the start of the trip but all were laughing and joking together by the end.
16
2
20
FUNDERS & SUPPORTERS Without the support of our generous donors, this programme would not have been possible. We want to thank them for their support, donations and encouragement.
Cheshire Community Foundation Cheshire East Community Hub Cheshire Freemasons Cheshire & Warrington Carers Trust CRH Charitable Trust Innospec Cares Peter Neumark Foundation The Marjory Boddy Trust The National Lottery Community Fund
THE AUTUMN PROGRAMME WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE WITH OUT THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF DONORS!
WE ARE S O GRATEFU L FOR THE SUPP ORT THAT IS CONSISTE NTLY RECEIVED .
17
AUTUMN PROGRAMME
Feedback...
We have changed the names – to protect the identity of these young carers.
“We LOVE the activity ideas... Thank you.. We’re self isolating as a member of our household has tested positive so these ideas are so h helpful and all achievable wit items we already have in the house.... Thanks so much..
“These w ere so yummy, baking/c all the ooking h as given Fe licity so much co nfidence in the Kitc hen!”
“Thank you to everybody who raised funds, planned and delivered activities with a smile. The boys loved it, it’s lovely looking back at all they got to do. You made the lockdown for them and should all feel very proud of yourselves!
18 28
AUTUMN PROGRAMME
Feedback...
ung “My daughter only joined yo and carers just before lockdown nderful we were amazed by the wo ren summer activities. My child ls were so excited by the parce ed the arriving and lily really enjoy shieldvirtual sessions. As we were really ing our youngest we were ha stuck home and it made suc her difference to Eliza to keep stuck busy and distract from being in. Thankyou so much! “
“Thanks once again! Truly generous organisation.”
“Cheshire Young Carers don’t get enough credit. Plenty of zoom classes over the next few weeks from make up, minecraft, baking and even family bingo and quiz nights on a thursday!”
19
AUTUMN PROGRAMME PROJECT REVIEW 2020
CHESHIRE YOUNG CARERS Registered Charity no. 1151399 Northern Lights Business Park, Rossfield Road, Ellesmere Port, CH65 3AW
Tel: 0151 356 3176 info@cheshireyoungcarers.com
www.cheshireyoungcarers.org @cheshireyoungcarers
20
@CYC_youngcarers
@cheshireyoungcarers
Cheshire Young Carers Cheshire Young Carers