SUMMER PROGRAMME PROJECT REVIEW 2020
5160 YOUNG CARERS DELIVERY HOURS
TOTAL OF
724
PARTICIPANTS
128 EVENTS OVER
6
WEEKS
Nearly
4000 r
views on ou TikTok/YouTube videos from the summer!
BEACH WEEK
ROBOT WEEK
CIRCUS WEEK
SUPERHERO WEEK
PIRATE WEEK
22
SAFARI WEEK
SUMMER PROGRAMME PROJECT REVIEW 2020
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
4
ACTIVITY KITS
6
THE EVENTS
8
COMPETITIONS
25
YOUNG ADULT CARERS
26
YOUTUBE
28
TIKTOK
29
WELLBEING
30
EDUCATION
32
FUNDERS & SUPPORTERS
33
SUMMER FEEDBACK
34
33
INTRODUCTION
SUMMER PROGRAMME PROJECT REVIEW 2020
This review of a summer activity programme from Cheshire Young Carers is unique, if only for the fact it has been delivered in the middle of a global pandemic and at the height of concerns around the disease. Plans for the expansion of the summer programme based on the success of last year’s activities had to be radically adjusted to focus on the delivery of online events. It is a credit to the staff that they used their full creative talents to produce 128 different activities over the 6 weeks of the traditional school summer holiday period. It was clear from talking to young carers that many families simply did not have basic craft making items, so we supplied them. To make the activity programme really engaging there was a need to supply things like face paints and balloons for the balloon modelling sessions. So, the team created activity parcels that were posted out (some were hand delivered) and the reaction was tremendous, a few suggested it was just like Christmas. It was also clear that isolation was developing into an increasing problem for all children, which is an increasing challenge for young carers. Therefore over the summer we delivered a range of resources and activities to support young carers through this difficult period, promoting positive mental health.
44
With schools closed and a focus on exams, a hidden issue was those children moving schools, in particular where they were transitioning to high school. The normal process of induction days disappeared, the opportunity for schools to discuss individual pupils to build care plans was all but lost so this became another focus for the team. We delivered a number of sessions to help young carers plan for their new school experience and provided one to one support where it was required. This included young carers going to university.
128 events over a 6 week period!
The summer programme is only possible because of the generous support of all our sponsors. We are particularly proud to work in partnership with Edsential as part of support for children eligible for free school meals, which includes a high proportion of young carers across Cheshire West and Chester. As you read this review, I am sure you will be impressed by the achievements of the team at their ingenuity, creativity and clear commitment to supporting young carers across Cheshire. Thank you,
Graham Phillips Graham Phillips Managing Director Cheshire Young Carers
55
ACTIVITY KITS
All young carers participating in the summer festival received a starter kit containing the basic items that they would need to take part in the virtual workshops and activities over the 6 weeks of the programme. These included: • Watercolour and acrylic paints, paint brushes and art pad for the painting workshops • Colouring pencils, card, scissors and glue sticks for making crafts • Juggling balls for Circus week • Ping pong balls and dice for the Minute to Win It Challenges • VR headset which young carers were able to use with their phones to play 3D videos and games • Bingo cards • Face paint palletes and make-up sponge • Playing cards • Skipping rope • Balloon modelling kits Each week the young carers were also sent digital activity packs via email. The packs had a different theme each week – Beach, Circus, Pirates, Robots, Superheroes and Safari. These themes were also used for the workshops. The packs contained a variety of activities under the headings of arts and crafts, science, exercise, reading, wellbeing. Activities included instructions sheets on how to make crafts, videos, wellbeing exercises and fun games and puzzles.
“Wow!!!!! Thank you SO much for the big box of goodies we have just had delivered! My daughter is absolutely thrilled & we now can’t see the floor for activities lol. What a lovely idea! Thank you again! :)”
186
199 Young Carers received Activity Kits!
ACTIVITY KITS To accompany the packs young carers received a weekly kit containing extra crafts and treats relevant to the theme and workshops; in beach week they received seaside wind chime decorations to paint and decorate and a stick of rock, for circus week they received a wooden acrobat game and stickers to make their very own circus collage, for pirate week they received a scratch art pirate hat and sword to decorate and chocolate gold coin treasure, in robot week the pack included robot puppets and light up robot key rings, for superheroes week the young carers all received superhero masks and gliders, superhero notebook and pens and Pez sweets dispensers, and for the final week the Safari packs included mosaics, games and lion lolly pops.
YAC ACTIVITY PACKS YACs were sent the same activity starter kit at the beginning of the summer, however for each of the weekly themes they received different items in their activity packs including motivational wordsearch books, gel pens, notebooks with positive messages on the front as well as sweets. The feedback from the YACs was that they had enjoyed receiving the packs each week, and some booked on extra workshops when they realised all the equipment was being provided.
719
PHOTOGRAPHY JULY
21
JULY
27
AU G U S T
03
AUGUST
10
98% PARTICIPANT ENJOYMENT!
AUGUST
17
95%
AUGUST
24
WOULD LIKE TO DO MORE OF THESE SESSIONS!
7
Over the summer programme young carers have viewed the world through a lens and unleashed their creativity in lens-based art. Over the six-week summer programme, we delivered a series of photography workshops, that have ranged in styles and for all abilities. Each week we focused on a different theme as requested by the young carers in previous sessions. The workshops were based around learning photography from within the home, using the lack of resources as a starting point to thinking creatively and use what was available. The young carers have learnt some theory on the theme of the week, including the history and its role in contemporary photography by using games, quizzes and videos. Following this we set tasks relating to the theme of the week and all shared what we had created together. Each week a challenge was set for the young carers to practice their skills at home. In a series of workshops that covered Mobile Photography, DSLR Photography, Still-Life Photography, Image Editing, Portrait Photography and Nature Photography, some brilliant images were created! Young carers learnt the tips & tricks to using their devices to the full potential. A great introductory game we played was to spell out the word ‘photography’ in images. To do this they had to find objects in their house that resembled each letter, this game was very popular and most young carers went on to spell their name! The other game we played was called ‘take your camera closer’, for these young carers had to take a zoomed in picture and the rest of us guess what it was.
Young carers also learnt how to use the mobile version of Adobe Photoshop and created their very own magazine cover! Portrait Photography and Nature Photography were a lot of fun! Young carers learnt lots of tips for great photos, experimented with lighting and explored the many different things they could photograph. The last game played combined photography with one of the most popular games of the summer – a scavenger hunt to find and photograph all things listed!
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6
The Still-Life Photography was very popular! The workshop started with a game of ‘let’s face it’, for this, young carers used blank pieces of paper as backdrops and found objects within their homes that created a face. What once was a spoon was now a nose and everyone involved was quite amused with the fun faces created. Many expressed their excitement to take their new skills outside of the home and practice them with more subject matter. Young carers also expressed a lot of interest in doing photography in a face to face environment when possible!
PAINTING JULY
22
JULY
29
AU G U S T
05
100% PARTICIPANT ENJOYMENT!
AUGUST
12
AUGUST
19
AUGUST
26
100%
WOULD LIKE TO DO MORE OF THESE SESSIONS!
Over the summer the young carers explored their creativity with their paint palletes and brushes in hand. Each week they created works of art inspired by the weekly theme and learnt a variety of skills and techniques using watercolour and acrylic paints. Young carers were provided with a watercolour pallete, acrylic paint set, brushes and a paper pad to paint along with artist Rebeca Tomos. During Beach week young carers experimented with the different ways to use watercolours to get different effects, whilst creating a beach scene. In Circus week the young carers tackled acrylic paints and how to create a wider range of different colours by mixing them to create their circus big top and performers. As the workshops went on through the summer the young carers became more confident with using the different paints. During Robot week they learnt how to create 3D effects with paint by using shading techniques, and developed this further in Superhero week when exploring Pop Art using a similar shading technique with letters to make them look like they were jumping out of the page, which the young carers really enjoyed.
The painting workshops also gave the opportunity for young carers to ask how to master techniques that they find difficult, such as creating an ombre sunset effect which they mastered in Safari Week, and also the challenging techniques of drawing facial dimensions when doing portraits of both people and animals. The young carers enjoyed having the creative freedom in the painting sessions, gaining the confidence to ask for help as well as share their own art tips with each other. They enjoyed the painting sessions so much that they have asked for more sessions after summer. Despite being in separate houses, the painting sessions had the ability to bring the young carers together as they were able to take part in casual chat whilst they painted and get members of their family involved.
9
7
PUPPETRY
JULY
23
For the first part of the workshop we held a puppet quiz, a chance for the young carers to learn about the different types of puppets used in performing arts. They were shown a video clip from the Handspring Puppet Company, showing how their War Horse puppet is brought to life by the 3 person team. For the second part of the workshop we were joined by a special guest, Gareth Aled, Resident Director of Puppetry for the National Theatre’s production of War Horse. The young carers prepared questions for Gareth to find out more about the puppets and what is like to bring the horses to life.
How long do the puppeteers need to rehearse for? Puppeteers attend two auditions and then rehearse for 10 weeks…there are 34 actors and 26 technicians and costume people…. who complete a two year tour…The horses weigh 8-9 stone and then have the weight of the riders on them as well.
100% PARTICIP ANT ENJOYME NT!
100%
OF PARTI CIPANTS LE ARNT SOMETHIN G NEW
How long does it take to make the puppets? The puppets are made by the Handspring Puppet Co. in Cape Town, South Africa. They are amazing craftsmanship and take 4-5 months to make each puppet. It takes 12 articulated lorries to move the puppets, equipment and costumes when we are on tour... they may be performing in New Zealand and then Liverpool, so we have two copies to do a world tour.
Following the Q&A session with Gareth Aled, Director of Puppetry for War Horse, we decided to have a go at designing our own puppets based upon a book or film that we could adapt on stage. How do you move the ears? It is very important to convince the audience it is a living horse.... The ears help to show the emotions of the horse. Bicycle levers operate the ears.
10
In the session we watched another video from the trailer of the stage show of War Horse, and then discussed ideas of how we could create wearable puppets. The young carers explored how diverse puppets are, and how they have to be adapted for stage shows in order to look realistic enough to capture the audience’s imagination and to make a big impact even to the audience member sitting the furthest from stage. The young carers had to think about what their puppets would look like and how they would move. One of the big questions on the Q&A was how the horse is controlled, so after learning the technical side of the puppetry, it was fun for the young carers to think about the mechanical challenges of a such a large puppet, and how they would consider this in their puppetry design.
JUGGLING
JULY
29
The young carers enjoyed a challenging juggling workshop. Maddy led them through the skills of juggling step by step, demonstrating and then giving the young carers tips on how to improve their skills. Maddy explained that the most important part of juggling is mastering the throw rather than the catch, so the first stage was about throwing one juggling ball from left to right and back again at the same height. When everyone was comfortable with this Maddy asked everyone to switch to throwing from right to left, even this small change proved to be a bit more of a challenge, although not as much as when a second juggling ball was introduced. Some young carers were more successful than others but everyone gave it a go and even tried using three juggling balls before the end of the workshop. Maddy’s advice was to keep practicing for 5 minutes each day. A few days after the session we were delighted to receive a video of one of the young carers demonstrating her new skills.
97%
PARTICIPANT ENJOYMENT!
90%
OF PARTICIPANTS LEARNT SOMETHING NEW
BALLOON MODELLING Balloon modeling is a skill that takes patience and creativity which the young carers all took in their stride throughout the workshop. The young carers were provided with balloon kits. After mastering the tricky technique of blowing up the balloons and tying them, the young carers let their creativity run wild, and learnt how to transform the balloons into different shapes. They began with the basics of making a balloon sword, which they could create ready for bingo fancy dress for Pirate week. They then learnt how to create a balloon dog, and how the same technique of making a dog can be used to make many other different animals. After mastering how to use a balloon to create a model, the young carers learnt how to make balloon flowers using two different balloons and experimenting with different colour combinations and shapes. The session ended with a balloon hat fashion show, all individually designed and created by the young carers.
6
JULY
29
100% PARTICIPANT ENJOYMENT!
100%
OF PARTICIPANTS LEARNT SOMETHING NEW
11
DRAMA
100% PARTICIPANT ENJOYMENT!
Each Friday morning, we were joined by an actor from the Little Actors Theatre Neston, during these sessions young carers enjoyed playing games, acting out scenarios and creating their very own superhero character.
100%
WOULD LIKE TO DO MORE OF THESE SESSIONS!
In pirate week young carers enjoyed creating their own pirate name using a pirate voice, we played Captains Coming where the young carers had to join in with the actions in their own home. For robot week the young carers took it in turns to play I went to the shop and I bought themed around robots, so each of them had to choose an object that you might use to create a robot. The young carers enjoyed superhero week when they created their very own superhero and superpowers and together read though a poem all about being a superhero.
JULY
24
AUGUST
07
AUGUST
14
AUGUST
21
MINUTE TO WIN IT AUGUST
Back by popular demand was our ‘Minute to Win it Tournament’, we played this during the May Half-Term, and it was such a hit that we decided to do it again! Young carers played against each other in a series of challenges, where they had only one minute to complete it or had to keep doing the challenge for a length of a minute. Challenges were completed using items that young carers received in their activity kits and it got very competitive. Dressing up as a famous person was definitely the favourite challenge, where we even saw staff dress up! The winners of first, second and third place were awarded with prizes!
12
14
AUGUST
21
88% PARTICIPANT ENJOYMENT!
88%
WOULD LIKE TO DO MORE OF THESE SESSIONS!
ANIMATION FLIPBOOK ANIMATION
AUGUST
04
The young carers stepped into the shoes of a sketch animator in a Flip Book Animation Workshop. There are many ways to do flip book animation and we sent post it notes to all the young carers to use as booklets. The young carers learnt the technique of making drawings come to life, by doing repetitive drawings that move slightly each time, creating the effect of the drawing moving as you flip through the post it notes. We took inspiration from our theme which was Pirate week and created the effect of a pirate ship sailing across the seas. In the older group the young carers wanted to take on the additional challenge of animating a kraken climbing up the pirate ship one tentacle at a time.
100% PARTICIPANT ENJOYMENT!
86%
WOULD LIKE TO DO MORE OF THESE SESSIONS!
AUGUST
18
100%
COMIC BOOK ANIMATION
Superheroes, Pop Art and Storytelling! The young carers became story tellers through the fun and colourful world of comic books. Their creative skills were put into full swing to create a story through a sequence of drawn images. As the theme of the week was Superheroes, many of the comic stories took the form of the young carers being superheroes themselves, featuring trusty sidekicks popularly based on pets and family members. We hope to bring the comic book stories created in the workshop together and present them in our very own Cheshire Young Carers Comic Book!
PARTICIPANT ENJOYMENT!
94%
WOULD LIKE TO DO MORE OF THESE SESSIONS!
13
MINECRAFT
29 Sessions
This summer programme 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. The virtual land originally built for the young carers had to be extended multiple times because they were enjoying building the space so much!
“I really enjoyed seeing all of them work together to make a functioning town, if one of the young carers had an issue within the game the others would support them to overcome it, they all engaged really well in the different games they was playing together, I also liked how they started to design their own treasure hunts for other young carers to play and it was great seeing new friendships form within the sessions”
I like that we had our free time to build and we could build whatever we wanted
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 children involved claimed ownership of this virtual space they have proudly built.
14
7
CODING
JULY
29
Using the Minecraft Education ‘Hour of Code: AI For Good’ lesson, Kris taught the young carers the basics of coding real-world examples; artificial intelligence (AI). The young carers all logged on to the Minecraft Education lesson and were taught how to complete a series of challenges based around forest fires. They were shown how AI can be used to collect data about forest fires and how to code solutions to stop the spread of the fires and how to break down the steps needed to solve a problem into a sequence of instructions. As each young carer was moving through the lesson on their own device, they were able to work at their own pace through the challenges depending on their level of coding knowledge.
100% PARTICIPANT ENJOYMENT!
89%
LEARNT SOMETHING NEW!
DRUMMING
AUGUST
28
The final workshop of the summer went off with a bang, and lots of them! We were joined by percussion artist Graham Proctor who ran a very exciting Drumming workshop. Young carers used their very own drumsticks and items from around the house to learn and develop their samba skills. Graham taught some routines, grooves, breaks and calls used in Rio Carnival 2020. At the end of the workshop, together everyone performed their newly learnt Carnival performance!
6
100% PARTICIPANT ENJOYMENT!
100%
WOULD LIKE TO DO MORE OF THESE SESSIONS!
15
BAKING AUGUST
13
AUGUST
2
Claire taught the 6-10 years olds how to make Rock Cakes, some of the young carers were baking for the first time and were very excited about the session. Everyone listened carefully to the step by step instructions and whilst the rock cakes were in the oven baking the young carers were encouraged to wash up and then played one of our most popular games.
In the second baking workshop 6-13 year old young carers made Rocky Road, a popular choice with everyone taking part. Some of the young carers adapted the recipe to use white chocolate, different sweets and vegetarian alternatives to the marshmallows. The rocky road needed to set for 2 hours in the fridge, it was lovely to receive photographs of the finished tray bakes later that evening.
100% PARTICIPANT ENJOYMENT!
100%
WOULD LIKE TO DO MORE OF THESE SESSIONS!
16
6
FAMILY COOKING JULY
24
JULY
31
AU G U S T
07
AUGUST
14
AUGUST
21
#FAMILYCOOKINGFRIDAYS Another favourite of the week was family cooking every Friday afternoon. Recipes were sent out a week before for families to buy ingredients and Sarah led them through the recipes on Zoom. Many of the families were cooking together for the first time and using ingredients they had not cooked with before. Sarah gave simple step by step instructions, and young carers were able to ask questions throughout the session if they were unsure. The Easy No Yeast Pizzas were a great success with everyone as the young carers could choose what extra toppings to include, there was even a good debate in the chat about whether it was best to use mozzarella or cheddar cheese. Some of the young carers adapted recipes and were able to ask how to cook the dishes with the changes. Throughout the summer young carers were also taught how to cook vegetable stir fry, sausage pasta bake, chicken curry, tuna pasta bake and corned beef chilli.
EASY NO YEAST PIZZA
EASY CHICKEN CURRY
AUGUST
28
100% PARTICIPANT ENJOYMENT!
95%
WOULD LIKE TO DO MORE OF THESE SESSIONS!
EASY VEGETABLE STIR FRY
EASY SAUSAGE PASTA BAKE
EASY TUNA BROCOLLI PASTA BAKE
EASY CORNED BEEF CHILLI
19
17
WILDLIFE OUTREACH AUGUST
KNOWSLEY SAFARI PARK
25
Broadcasting Live on YouTube, Knowsley Safari Park brought the young carers up close and personal to several enclosures, and the animals that inhabit them. Thanks to the Knowsley Safari Park team, young carers were able to look at different animal’s skulls and ask questions to the team using a live chat function on the broadcast. This interactive virtual outreach session provided the young carers with a rare behind the scenes view of the safari park, and the keepers that work there. They were able to not only learn about the different animals and their enclosures, but also what it takes to look after the animals and their homes at the safari park.
100% PARTICIP ANT ENJOYMEN T!
100%
OF PARTIC IPANTS LE ARNT SOMETHIN G NEW
The giraffes were the focus of the session, with the young carers seeing the bones that make up the giraffe’s long necks and other interesting facts. They were even able to watch the giraffes being fed live on camera, something that a lot of them had never seen before. It was an enjoyable experience for the young carers to get a closer look at the animals and to see them from the perspective of the keepers, as opposed to just visiting. It made it even more special that they were able to watch from the comfort and safety of their homes. Check out these images from the session with Chester Zoo!
GAUNTLET BIRDS OF PREY
AUGUST
27
The young carers discovered what it would be like to have a personal Zoom call with a couple of cheeky meerkats and a range of beautiful and rare birds. Thanks to our amazing tour guide Daisy at Gauntlet, the young carers were able to have an exclusive look around the park from the safety and comfort of their own home. With the session being broadcasted live, young carers were able to ask Daisy questions as she showed us around the park and could request to see particular birds and animals. Dave the meerkat seemed to be a favorite amongst the young carers in the session as well as Po, a hybrid owl who was the only one of his kind. The young carers even got the chance to suggest names for some of the birds they had seen, which made the session even more exciting for those involved.
20
100% PARTICIPANT ENJOYMENT!
100%
OF PARTICIPANTS LEARNT SOMETHING NEW
7
WILDLIFE OUTREACH
Check out these images from the session with Knowsley Safari Park!
100% PARTICIP ANT ENJOYMEN T!
100%
OF PARTIC IPANTS LE ARNT SOMETHIN G NEW
AUGUST
25
CHESTER ZOO
The young carers were so excited to have a Zoom call with Sean, a member of the Chester Zoo team. Sean showed the young carers a collection of animal skulls and the characteristics of each animal which differentiates their skull structure from each other. The young carers loved trying to guess which animals they belonged to and guessing which animals they might have evolved from. Chester Zoo’s passion for conservation and educating about the dangers many animals and their habitats face came through the session, as young carers learnt about deforestation and the importance of sustainable palm oil. Sean also showed the young carers videos of some of the rare and new baby animals at the zoo. The young carers loved getting involved in the different games and conversations, as well as having many questions for Sean about their favorite animals.
Check out these images from the session with Gauntlet Birds of Prey!
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FAMILY BINGO NIGHT
100% PARTICIP ANT ENJOYMEN T!
JULY
23
JULY
06
AU G U S T
20
100%
OF PARTIC IPANTS LE ARNT SOMETHIN G NEW
After the success of bingo over lockdown, we had to bring it back in the Summer Festival. At 7pm on Thursdays the young carers got their number cards and pens ready and joined our bingo on Facebook for the live stream. Bingo was an activity where we encouraged the families and friends of the young carers to join in. Young carers had the chance to win a voucher for either winning the first line, getting bingo and for best fancy dress. 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.
FAMILY QUIZ NIGHT JULY
30
JULY
13
AU G U S T
27
Our three family quiz nights were a hit with young carers, parents and siblings. Each family joined our Quiz Master Georgia on Zoom to join in with our interactive quiz. The families used a separate device to access the Kahoot Quiz, with the questions displayed on screen for everyone to see. Families set up their team names and answered questions which were scored not only on whether they were correct but also how fast they had answered. This soon prompted a competitive atmosphere, especially as the top 5 teams were shown on the leaderboard between each question. At the end of the first quiz the young carers were asked to suggest ideas for the future quiz rounds, Georgia incorporated many of their suggestions throughout the summer ranging from Harry Potter and Marvel films, to mathematics and history rounds. At the end of each quiz the top 3 teams were sent Amazon vouchers.
18 22
100% PARTICIP ANT ENJOYMEN T!
100%
OF PARTIC IPANTS LE ARNT SOMETHIN G NEW
FANCY DRESS As part of our Bingo and Quiz nights we also ran a weekly fancy dress based on the weekly activity theme. Many young carers made their own amazing costumes and whole families dressed up as well as the staff, we also planned the face painting workshops for the afternoons so that the young carers were able to incorporate that into their costumes. The competition added to the fun, and gave the young carers another way of engaging with the sessions. The winners were delighted to receive Amazon voucher prizes.
BEACH WEEK ROBOT WEEK
CIRCUS WEEK SUPERHERO WEEK
PIRATE WEEK SAFARI WEEK
19 23
MAKEUP & FACEPAINT
100% PARTICIP ANT ENJOYMEN T!
JULY
23
JULY
30
AU G U S T
06
AUGUST
13
AUGUST
20
AUGUST
27
99%
WOULD LI KE TO DO THESE SESSIONS AGAIN!
Over the summer we delivered 6 face paint & makeup workshops along with CourtneyMariaMUA. Courtney recorded herself creating a series of colourful and thematical looks. The videos follow a step by step tutorial format which were played in Zoom sessions for the young carers to follow along. All young carers received their very own face paint palette with sponges and brushes, Courtney was also given the same products. Young carers enjoyed these sessions and felt really proud to see the final look. We saw Mums, Dads and siblings getting involved too! Courtney joined the end of every session to answer questions and take suggestions for the next weeks look, of which there was plenty!
BEACH WEEK
Part 1 - Natural Glowy Base Part 2 - Sunset & Palm
ROBOT WEEK
Half Human, Half Robot Facepaint
24
CIRCUS WEEK
Circus Tent Facepaint
SUPERHERO WEEK
Part One - Smoky Eye Part Two - Batwoman/man Facepaint Part Three - Spiderman Hand
PIRATE WEEK
Part 1 - Contouring Part 2 - Pirate Facepaint
SAFARI WEEK
Part One - Winged Eyeliner Part Two - Tiger Facepaint
7
COMPETITIONS £100 PARTY VOUCHER COMPETITION To encourage more young carers to participate in the summer programme, we ran a competition with prizes for attendance. Young carers received points for attending sessions. Each age group had its own leader board that young carers were eager to climb. Sessions that had a specific benefit to their health and wellbeing received more points. Extra points were available for following the TikTok and Youtube accounts, to encourage more children to see the variety of content posted there. There were six winners in total, 2 from each age group. The prizes were £100 that they could put towards a party of their choice with their friends. Runners up also recieved Odeon Cinema vouchers. The competition resulted in young carers booking onto more sessions for their chance to win!
6 Young Carers won a £100 party voucher!
PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION Each week of the summer programme we sent out ‘photography competition cheat sheets’. On these sheets were composition techniques that were useful for using a mobile phone to take a good photo. Each week a new ‘top tip’ was added for parents to use. The cheat sheets were in correspondence with a competition we ran, where parents/guardians were invited to send in images of their young carer engaging in the summer programme. Georgia chose the best photo of the week, and the winners were gifted a professional photoshoot for their family. We chose one winner per week and one overall winner, so seven families across Cheshire were delighted to receive their prize and be photographed at the end of the summer programme. The competition resulted in many images being sent in from the families, from young carers enjoying to workshops to them playing with their activity kits. We even received images of whole families dressed up for bingo and quiz nights. The competition was a great success and families were so pleased to have won their photoshoot.
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YOUNG ADULT CARERS Teenage Young Carers face additional
challenges in life as they move towards adulthood, as they consider exam options, think about moving to further education, apprenticeships or straight into work – and of course this is all with the peer pressure that comes from being a teenager. Our YAC programme is designed to provide the young adult carers with information, confidence and new skills as well as helping them to develop friendship groups that will help them through their challenging teenage years. The YAC programmes we deliver to the 14-18 year age group, including the summer respite programme have a number of clear objectives:
AMBITION
Some young carers struggle to reach their full potential through mainstream education often resulting in limited ambition for their adult lives. Hardly any of young adult carers receive advice on transferable skills they have gained as a result of caring for family members. An important aspect of the programme is to recognise and develop these skills and encourage more ambition.
INDEPENDENCE
Our aim is to encourage independence, so the young adult carers have confidence when joining in social activities and generally taking control of their own lives.
‘INTO WORK’ PROGRAMME
This aspect of the work we undertake offers young adult carers the opportunity to go explore a wide range of job opportunities, methods of entry into these workplaces and is generally designed to inspire more challenging aspirations.
SKILLS FOR LIFE
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All the activities we provide for young adult carers are designed to try and use the various skills they have, usually enhanced skills because of their caring role, to illustrate how these can be used as skills for life, irrespective of their choice at the age of 18 with regards to continuing in further education or moving into employment.
FRIENDSHIP GROUPS
It is well known that young carers often find it difficult to create friendship groups in which they are confident to discuss and explain the challenges in their lives or at least have friends who appreciate the challenges they have. It is often difficult to take part in friendship group activities which can lead to friction and the breakdown of friendships. From experience we have learnt that by linking young adult carers together they often form strong friendship groups based on a common understanding, often without the need to discuss their specific challenges but with a general attitude of accepting people as they are.
LOCKDOWN
Usually our young adult carer group would spend the holidays doing a variety of trips and events to help them to develop their independence. Although this has not been possible over the summer, our young adult carers have enjoyed developing their skills in their own age appropriate baking and photography workshops. Many of the young adult carers are working on an ASDAN Expressive Arts course with workshops designed to help them complete modules. There has been a noticeable difference in how confident the young adult carers have been using Zoom.
YOUNG ADULT CARERS Creative Writing
AUGUST
The YACs took part in a Creative Writing project with spoken word artist Jamie Lynch. Jamie worked with the group at the start of lockdown and used the project to complete his Gold Arts Award. Jamie used the funding he received from Crewe Town Council to run the sessions with support from performing arts company Brighter Sounds. In the first session the group learnt about rhyming couplets and worked together to write a poem/rap using all the themes of the summer programme. In the second workshop the group were shown how to take the creative process further and weave stories into their work. Jamie shared a story he had written which was autobiographical. The group then wrote a piece together about a young carer. At the end of the week everyone joined together to hear Jamie perform the raps as part of his Arts Award.
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WOULD LIKE TO DO A SESSION LI KE THIS AG AIN
During the summer programme YAC’s also enjoyed... Baking
Yoga
Family Quiz and Family Bingo
Photography Makeup & Facepaint
Wildlife Sessions
Painting
Digital Animation
Family Cooking
Minute to Win it
AUGUST
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Learning skills and techniques, they can use towards sections of their ASDAN Expressive Arts Course, the young adult carers (YACs) traded their pencil and paper for an iPad and stylus. With a tutorial delivered by digital illustrator Imogen Walker, the YACs were able to create a digital illustration of their very own superhero, and experimenting with art styles used in classic comic books, such as Pop Art. The YACs also learnt a range of drawing skills around illustrating people and tricks and tips of drawing proportions. The skills learnt in these sessions can be developed as they continue their Expressive Arts Course.
100% PARTICIP ANT ENJOYM ENT!
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OF PARTI CIPAN SOMETH TS LEARNT ING NEW
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YOUTUBE YouTube is an accessible video sharing platform, the videos can be watched without creating an account. As many of our young carers were unable to join the Zoom workshops, videos were made so that they could watch them and take part in activities in their own time. Cheshire Young Carers’ YouTube channel will now act as a library of content that can be revisited or used by new young carers to the service. The summer programme has introduced 27 new videos to the channel, ranging from wellbeing videos to cooking tutorials and many more.
651 views in 90 days! 27 videos over summer
‘Workout Explained’ videos To correspond with our workouts posted on TikTok, along with Ellie Bird fitness we created fitness videos which we named ‘workouts explained’. The purpose of these videos is so young carers can see the correct way to perform the exercises as well as the different variations they could follow. The TikTok videos displayed our YouTube channel name and encouraged young carers to watch the video that was posted to YouTube to ensure they exercised safely. During the ‘workouts explained’ videos, Ellie went through each workout so if a young carer didn’t have TikTok they could still complete the workout too. Makeup videos Many young carers have used the make-up and face painting tutorials on YouTube in their own time. Courtney also created specific makeup videos for the Young Adult Carers, showing them how to apply foundation, create glamourous eye make-up and apply eyeliner. Both makeup Tiktoks and YouTube videos have been so popular with requests for more in the future!
Wellbeing Videos The #wellbeingwednesday videos that have been created by Dan Nester and Meg Howlett have been well received on our Youtube channel. The animated videos with voice overs cover many different tips to looking after your wellbeing.
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Cooking Videos Our Family Cooking Fridays has been one of the biggest successes this summer. Cheshire Young Carers’ YouTube channel currently has 6 cooking tutorials that include baking and cooking outdoors. Easy No Yeast Pizza comes in as the current favourite!
TIKTOK With an ever-increasing number of the young carers we support using the application Tiktok we posted 32 videos over the 6-week programme on our TikTok channel, enabling them to take part in activities in their own time. The videos will stay on both our YouTube and TikTok channel for young carers to use again! Before the programme officially began, a few videos were uploaded to build up excitement. To give a little inspiration and guidance for what they could create with the activity packs, Georgia created fun example demos. As well as these, we had a yoga challenge and a drumming video created by outside providers who helped us deliver the programme.
A total of 419 likes!
Makeup videos To advertise the full makeup tutorials that were uploaded to our YouTube channel weekly, Courtney created a video each week for TikTok. These videos showed her creating the finished look, with some popular transitions between stages. Along with ‘TikTok Viral sounds’ these videos were really engaging for the young carers as they were like content that is popular on the app. Exercise Videos Young carers followed an exercise circuit posted to help them stay fit this summer! The workouts were planned by Ellie Bird Fitness with a full demonstration of the whole exercise routine uploaded to our YouTube channel. Each workout consisted of 4 different exercises whereby young carers would do one for one minute with one minute rest per 4 exercises, totalling around 15 minutes. Although Ellie set the workouts in this format, they could do it to suit their fitness level. The 4 exercises each target a different muscle group making the circuits a full body workout. Each week saw 3 circuits, across the 6-week programme.
32 videmoers over sum
Over the 6 weeks, the Tik Tok videos had a total of 3500 views and many young carers commented in the sessions that they enjoyed them!
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WELLBEING Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions, every part of Cheshire Young Carers’ summer programme aimed to help young carers improve their mood and emotional wellbeing. This included weekly wellbeing exercises within each digital activity pack with some fantastic results to help some young carers. Further to that, Cheshire Young Carers delivered sessions specifically aimed at improving wellbeing to groups of young carers, as part of their summer programme.
Wellbeing Sessions JULY
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WOULD LI KE TO DO THESE SESSIONS AGAIN!
Throughout the summer we have delivered digital group wellbeing sessions for young carers. These sessions covered a variety of topics such as: • building healthy relationships • exploring the importance of physical wellbeing • the importance of learning new skills and self-development • the benefits of supporting others whilst also recognising the importance of accessing support for themselves • taking care of their mental wellbeing by accessing support, developing coping techniques and identifying steps they can take to make time for self-care and taking time to focus on their own needs
Minecraft Another wellbeing intervention that we have delivered during the summer holidays are Minecraft sessions. We used Minecraft to create a digital world where young carers can play games together and create a shared town that they could all interact with. This server helped to develop young carers’ wellbeing by creating a space for them to build relationships with each other by playing games and working together to complete tasks such as treasure hunts and creating buildings. It supported their physical wellbeing by making time for them to reduce stress, to increase rest and improve fine motor skills. It also gave them the space to focus on their own needs, to do what they would like within the server and make new friends. All of which was moderated by Cheshire Young Carers’ staff.
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WELLBEING Digital Animation During summer we created digital animations that covered a variety of wellbeing topics such as • the benefits being outdoors can have on our wellbeing • how to overcome barriers and identify support networks • showing how to create a self care box to help reduce overwhelming feelings • exploring individuals strengths as well as recognising that sometimes all individuals need support from others
Yoga Sessions JULY
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JULY
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AUGUST
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Young carers joined Yoga instructor Amy in weekly Yoga sessions to unwind and relax. The sessions were 30 minutes long and delivered through Zoom where Amy instructed the young carers through a series of Yoga poses and breathing sequences. Throughout the six weeks, young carers practiced joint movements, leg raises, spinal twists, lateral body and simple breathing exercises, mainly to try and connect the body with the breath, which helps to relax and calm the mind. The yoga sessions were really popular and although most young carers were beginners, they enjoyed the new exciting challenge of learning something new. Together they created a calming space to practice mindfulness.
AUGUST
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WOULD LI KE TO DO THESE SESSIONS AGAIN!
Cheshire Young Carers’ staff also delivered some targeted support to young carers and their families with regular contact, one to one support, signposting to services able to resolve various issues, and ongoing interventions aimed at building resilience and improving wellbeing within young carers’ lives. We are extremely grateful for the passion, enthusiasm and abilities of the team throughout the summer programme.
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YOUNG CARERS IN EDUCATION Cheshire Young Carers has developed an intervention programme to support schools in working positively with young carers with the aim of improving the life chances of children with a caring role at home through education. The programme includes tools and strategies to encourage children to share their experiences of caring roles and includes lots of practical ideas that can make the educational experience of young carers so much better. There is also access to an evaluation tool that measures the potential impact of a caring role on the educational outcomes of a young carer; with this information schools can create a tailored support plan to improve exam results. The really good news is that from experience, nearly all the required interventions cost little or nothing to implement.
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OF PUPILS IN SCHOOL ARE LIKELY TO B E YO U N G CARERS
Over the summer holiday period and in this current Covid environment, all the resources of our schools intervention programme are now available digitally and with the generosity of our supporters are available completely free of charge.
‘Moving On Up’ - Transition Sessions AUGUST
As part of our summer programme we created and delivered several transition sessions that aimed to support year 6 pupils that were transitioning from primary school to high school. This was created due to the lockdown resulting in the majority of year 6 pupils missing out on key transition steps that they would normally experience during school. We covered worries that the young carers had around starting high school such as worrying about making new friends, different types of school work and homework, about being bullied and also worries around their friends not going to the same school as them.
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FOUND TH
E SESSION HELPFUL!
We explored coping mechanisms they can use to manage their worries, looked at what support networks they can access both in and out of school and also shared ideas and tips on how to make the first day in secondary school more manageable.
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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. In 2020, our main sponsor for the summer programme has been: Edsential, the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme funded by the Department for Education (DfE), supporting events in Cheshire West and Chester.
THE SUMMER PROGRAMME WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE WITH OUT THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF DONORS!
The key sponsor was not alone with all the following organisations further funding to support the programme: Anne Duchess of Westminster’s Charity Barbour ABI Cheshire & Warrington Carers Trust Cheshire East Carers Hub Cheshire Community Foundation Cheshire Freemasons Children In Need Clarence Masonic Lodge CRH Charitable Trust Ellesmere Port Lions Mr David Nesbit Nantwich Film Club Steve Morgan Foundation The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust The National Lottery Community Fund The Peter Neumark Foundation The Westminster Foundation The Williams Family Foundation The Whitby High School Upton by Chester Golf Club
WE ARE S O GRATEFU L FOR THE SUPP ORT THAT IS CONSISTE NTLY RECEIVED .
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SUMMER PROGRAMME
Feedback...
We have changed the names – to protect the identity of these young carers.
“Arrived home this evening to 3 big boxes. The girls faces lit up when they realised they were for them . They were over the moon with all th e things inside, it was like Christmas in my house. Thank you very much.”
or all you are d fo s k n a th e iv s! to say a mass to our holiday n io it d d “Just wanted a ly e G g such a lov lutely LOVIN so b a ing. It’s makin is e sh t when uite shy bu els so special fe e Mila can be q sh t a th e her s and I lov ally all about su u ’s these activitie it , ly te a nfortun ut!)… all the o b a s in la p doing them (u m o c e never, ever nderful thing o w a h c su sister, which sh ’s rve this and it mum.” very grateful little ones dese a m o fr s k n a ! Th you are doing
“Hi we have just got ho me and received your parcel for Sinthu, to say she was overwhelmed was a unde rstatement. You do amazing work and we have had a tough couple of months so to see that smile was amazing thank you”
“Thank you for week one – The boys have had a blast! War Horse was amazing and Bruce was made up with Minecraft. The pizza went down well with everybody.”
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“Thanks once again! Truly generous organisation.”
SUMMER PROGRAMME
Feedback... Felicity loves the box that arrived today. Thank you!
“Eliza is thrilled to have wo n. This is the first time she has plucked up the courage to take part. Looking forward to doing the quiz next Thursd ay. Think it might get a bit raucous in our house if the bingo was anything to go by.”
“Lola enjoyed her first workshop with young carers today, she was really nervous at first but had the best time ever.”
“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!”
much. “Thank you so stic and nta The pack is fa putting it dy Derek is alrea se.” to good u
“My daughter received a parcel yesterday with things in to do vario us activites. This morning she’s on zoom reunited with her friends from young care rs doing an online photography class with young carers. Shes happy to see her friends again!”
“I received my pack this morning and am going through it deciding which Im going to do. I’m very excited for summer now.”
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SUMMER PROGRAMME PROJECT REVIEW 2020
Thank you to all young carers and families who made this summer so fun, and with special thanks to one of our families who captured this so wonderfully in this poem: Skipping ropes and juggling balls Playing cards and bingo calls Minute to win it, Sausage pasta bake Superheroes and Maltesers cheesecake Corned beef chilli and veggie stir fry Modelling balloons hard to tie! Tuna pasta and chicken curry No yeast pizza in a hurry What makes you happy and meeting warhorse Stretching and a painting course Chocolate coins and other sweet treats Pots and pans for samba beats Animating and creative writing VR sets to new worlds inviting Rocky road and fancy dress Wrapping up as a mummy and making a mess Yoga and a photoshoot ‘Would you rather?’ was a hoot! Online coding and the world of Minecraft We learned, we created, We moved and we laughed! To all you wonderful, hard-working staff Thank you for making lockdown a laugh! 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
@CYC_youngcarers
@cheshireyoungcarers
Cheshire Young Carers Cheshire Young Carers