Coram Newsletter - Autumn 2020

Autumn 2020

It’s show time!

In this issue: How Shakespeare is shaping children’s futures, our virtual Creative Therapy sessions, and our Voices 2020 competition

Coram is the UK’s oldest children’s charity and has been supporting vulnerable children for nearly 300 years.

We provide children with the best possible chance in life by finding them a home, advocating for their rights, and developing their skills.

What’s going on Back to School Coram Life Education has launched a free ‘Back to School’ online toolkit for primary school teachers to help children re-adjust to school life. The toolkit is designed to prepare teachers for social distancing measures and to develop children’s resilience and self-esteem through six weeks of lessons.

Find out more at coramlifeeducation.org.uk

Coram’s evidence to Parliament During May, Coram Family and Childcare (CFC) and CoramBAAF were invited to submit the Petitions Committee’s inquiry on the impact of lockdown on access to childcare, maternity pay and maternal mental health.

Coram’s evidence concluded that while the primary focus of the COVID-19 inquiry is adults, we cannot ignore the impact on children of all ages, and we asked government to include young children in response to these critical issues.

Read the full story at coram.org.uk/covid-childcare

Foster Care Fortnight We supported Foster Care Fortnight in May, the Fostering Network’s campaign to promote the value of fostering and the positive difference it can make to young people’s lives. The campaign shone a light on foster carers, what fostering means to them, and to encourage more to come forward.

Coram’s CEO Dr Carol Homden CBE was interviewed on BBC Radio London and LBC radio as part of the campaign.

Read the full story at coram.org.uk/fostercarefortnight

Letters from Lockdown In partnership with the Royal Literary Fund, Coram ran a series of free online creative writing workshops for care-experienced young people aged between 16 and 25. The sessions, called Letters from Lockdown, took place virtually over six weeks in May and June. They took inspiration from historic lessons held in the Foundling Hospital archive and explored life experiences through letters – past, present and future.

Find out more at coram.org.uk/ letters-from-lockdown

From old texts To perform Shakespeare at The Old Rep is an incredible achievement. It widens their cultural horizons and they come to see the opportunities that they have on their own doorstep Karen Slater, Headteacher at City Academy

to new dreams In 2019, City Academy took part in Shakespeare Schools Festival for the first time. Kabeera*, 14, discovered how setting their own version of Othello in modern day Birmingham helped her and her friends address issues of gang violence.

Talking about what it meant for her to portray Othello, Kabeera says: “It made me think about how easy it can be for someone to manipulate you.

They can pretend to be your friend, but all along they are just looking out for number one. Before you know it, the whole situation escalates and people end up doing stupid things.”

Acting in Shakespeare helped Kabeera to understand the psychology of the characters and face the reality of her surroundings, but it also gave her the opportunity to express herself and develop her confidence. Now, Kabeera has big aspirations and dreams of becoming a doctor.

One night of Shakespeare Coram Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation is the charity for children and teachers who are scared of Shakespeare. We encourage our teachers and children to experiment and to be creative – we believe there’s no one right way to perform the plays. By encountering Shakespeare through drama, children have the chance to discover his language, spoken and heard, and to explore how the themes raised by his plays have relevance to their own lives and the world around them.

This year, with the UK’s theatres closed, hundreds of casts will take part in One Night of Shakespeare on 20 November 2020. Together, children from every corner of the UK will perform as part of a unique night of theatre in their schools. The event will be live streamed, showcasing the achievements and creativity of young people in this unprecedented year. shakespeareschools.org/ *Case studies are real but names and images have been changed to protect children’s identities.

It’s storytime Very.co.uk, in association with Coram Beanstalk, launched a series of Storytime sessions, featuring some brilliant children’s books being read by some familiar faces.

Every Friday, from mid-April, at 6pm, a story was shared on social media, alongside some reading top tips from Coram Beanstalk to help make sharing books fun and engaging!

Throughout the 14 weeks, we had support from fabulous celebrities including Vogue Williams, Binky Felstead, Beverley Knight, Mark Hayes, Amanda Lamb and Dan

Snow. They appeared alongside some of our wonderful volunteer reading helpers, who haven’t been able to support children in school during lockdown due to school closures.

You can watch all the stories on Very. co.uk’s YouTube Channel.

Vogue Williams launched our Storytime campaign reading ‘Gringer the Whinger’, written by Jane Landy and illustrated by Sheena Dempse.

To learn more about our 123 story campaign: beanstalkcharity.org.uk/news

Other ways you can help us At a time of crisis, it is often the vulnerable who are hit the hardest.

Every small donation helps us provide disadvantaged children with essential services, to give them the best possible chance in life. Why not support vulnerable children by organising a fundraising event online?

Here are a couple of ideas to get you started: Miles for Smiles Plan your own virtual running or walking event. You can garner support by asking people to join you and make the event as big as you can. Don’t forget to ask for donations, you can even take a sweepstake on the time it takes you to complete the challenge.

Host a virtual fitness class Could you teach a yoga class or hold a PT session? Set up a JustGiving page and ask participants to make a donation to take part.

Online tutorials Could you share your skills with others online and ask them to donate while they learn? eBay away Now we have a lot more time on our hands, is it time to clear out?

Could you sell your clutter on eBay or another selling site to help raise money for a good cause?

Amazon smile Don’t forget you can also help us just by doing your everyday shopping through Amazon smile and The Giving Machine. You don’t even need to move from your sofa.

Visit our website for more ways to get involved coram.org.uk/fundraising-covid

Building confidence through

musıc

Harmony Group, a dedicated group available to Coram adopters, offers nurturing musical and sensory experiences for children and families through virtual Creative therapy. These sessions are for children under 5 years old, who have been through court proceedings and are likely to have experienced developmental trauma.

Through music, movement and sensory storytelling, parent-child relationships are strengthened and children develop confidence and self-expression. Harmony Group helps adoptive families to connect with one another and share learning, especially during lockdown, in addition to providing a safe and creative environment for children to express themselves.

Sally*, aged three, had been living with her adoptive family for six months before our first session with her.

During our first telephone call with Sally’s father, he warned us it was very

unlikely she would join in, as she had difficulties expressing herself. In her first session, Sally sat away from the screen, hiding behind a blanket, but when she did look up, she watched the other children intently.

Over time, Sally began to engage more by singing and playing together, and her father reported that she looked forward to her sessions. Soon, Sally was joining hands and inviting her Dad to play with her. Each week, we observed Sally developing confidence and starting to share the things that were special to her with the other children, such as her favourite toys and her Dora the Explorer DVD. When Sally recently went back to nursery, her father thanked us for giving them the opportunity to have special time together, where he was able to see Sally’s confidence grow and watch her enjoy connecting with the other children. coram.org.uk/creativetherapies

*Case studies are real but names and images have been changed to protect children’s identities.

Why supporting Coram with a regular gift makes a difference Thanks to your generosity, we are able to help the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children and young people. Whether they need a safe place to call home, support in their reading abilities, an advocate to help them voice their rights or creative therapies to express themselves, we can be there for them because of you.

Regular gifts, however small, make a difference in the lives of children like Sally. ÂŁ5 a month, for example, can help us reach more vulnerable children through creative therapy, helping them find their own voice through music and art.

You can set up a regular gift by visiting our website: coram.org.uk/donate-now

Our supporters raised

£11,522 thanks to the 2.6 challenge The London Marathon usually raises millions of pounds for UK charities and this year’s event was due to take place on 26th April.

When it was cancelled due to COVID-19, the organisers decided to create something a bit different.

The 2.6 challenge is where supporters came up with a challenge around the numbers 2.6 or 26, which is in homage to the 26 miles of the marathon.

Thanks to 25 challenges and 249 donations, our fantastic supporters and staff raised ÂŁ11,522 for Coram.

From running a marathon in 2.6 days, to surviving 2.6 rounds of boxing, to hula-hooping for 26 minutes, we were overwhelmed by the generosity and spirit of our supporters.

He thought he was pretty fit but changed his mind as I chased him around the garden!

Sally, our Adoption Activity Days Manager, challenged herself to survive 2.6 rounds of boxing with her son.

Voices 2020 Voices is our annual creative writing competition for children in care and care-leavers aged 4 to 25. This year’s awards, which celebrate the creativity and talent of children in care and care-leavers, saw our highest ever response with over 300 entries submitted. This year, for the first time, the awards ceremony took place online and was hosted virtually by Peter Capaldi.

You can watch the full ceremony, including some of the winning entries on the theme of “Dreams” and our special category “Experiences of COVID-19”, on Coram Voice’s YouTube channel www.youtube.com/user/voiceyp.

We would like to thank our sponsors Cadence Innova, Club Peloton, Nick and Katie Searl, and Rosemary and Bernard Mayes for supporting this year’s Awards. Without your support, Voices 2020 would have not been possible.

Thank you for helping to provide a voice to children and young people in care and leaving care.

The day after our online Voices 2020 awards, we received this thank you poem from Ryan, the winner of our primary category, to share how special the competition has been for him.

What can I say accept my heart was filled with joy, Sitting with my family, Youtube glowing, me feeling such a proud boy.

Sounds of Coram Voices bouncing round our living room, Lots of happy cheers, absolutely no traces of gloom.

Hearing the Primary age category results read out, Knowing that Piers, Lauren and Olivia had never given me a doubt.

I really would have been happy just getting in the top five, When hearing I was the winner my nerves took a power dive.

My world went into slow motion as proudness shone in my families faces, With the comfort of their arms giving loving embraces.

We watched the other winners, as in my eyes everyone was one, My heart went out to them as I imagined their celebration had begun.

This competition is so special because it gives us kids a chance, to speak, A brilliant idea by Muna as poetry is a wonderful powerful technique.

- Ryan, Primary Category Winner, Voices 2020 Sponsored by

If you would like to find out more about Coram or donate, you can visit us on coram.org.uk or email us at supportercare@coram.org.uk The Thomas Coram Foundation for Children. Registered charity no. 312278 Established by Royal Charter in 1739. IG-2020-AN