Action
Blue Cabin supports care-experienced children and young people to strengthen relationships with their adult carers through artist-led programmes.
Working in partnership with local authorities across North East England, the charity uses the principles of trauma-informed care to deliver a diverse range of creative activities to children who have experience of the care system, and their carers.
One-off workshops, accredited art programmes and weekly music-making sessions are facilitated by Blue Cabin’s team of associate artists who have experience working with care-experienced children and young people, carers and social workers. The artists, which range from puppeteers to printmakers, have received training in trauma-informed approaches to help shape the content and design of the programmes that they facilitate.
“Some of the challenges faced by children and young people in the care community include the development of attachment and the building of trusting relationships,” explains Jenny Young, director of Blue Cabin, which is in the process of completing its Working with Trauma Quality Mark through One Small Thing.
“Every child and young person we work with is unique. But we know that they’ve faced one or more adverse childhood experiences which might include neglect, breakdown of the family environment, or abuse. Our trauma-informed activities provide them with a safe space where they can take part in a creative workshop or event - sometimes for the first time, or work alongside their carer to process and move beyond their experiences,” she adds.
Early years music making for children up to five years old and their carers is one of the projects run by Blue Cabin in partnership with Darlington Borough Council. The weekly This is the Placesessions, funded by Youth Music, County Durham Community Foundation and Creative Darlington, are centred around the trauma-informed principles of care: safety, empowerment, choice, cultural awareness, trust and collaboration.
“A lot of work goes into creating really safe spaces for care-experienced children and young people where they can express themselves creatively,” explains Young, who refers to the training and guidance they have received from London-based trauma-informed arts charity, Kazzum Arts and Professor Richard Rose of Therapeutic Life Story Work International.
“Music-making helps babies and young children develop language and communication skills, personal, social and emotional skills and build relationships,” she adds.
“During the sessions, Blue Cabin musicians are attuned to the individuals that they are working with. Foster carers come together with a sense of connection and adoptive families have been welcomed into the space to help the baby with the transition.”
Each family receives a bag of musical instruments and finger puppets, along with recordings of the music sessions which can be used at home to help calm and regulate the children.
Blue Cabin also works with care-experienced men aged 16 to 24 at Deerbolt Prison in County Durham, which account for a third of the prisoners. The three-year Creative Aid project, which is run in partnership with charity Nepacs and funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and Reaching Communities Fund, supports them to develop confidence, an understanding of the arts and achieve an Arts Award accreditation through regular creative activities such as writing poems and scripts and creating visual artwork.
“Being creative has been shown to improve wellbeing and have a positive impact on rehabilitation and relationships within a criminal justice system,” Young explains.
Impact
During 2022/23, 108 kinship carers, foster carers and birth family members took part in Blue Cabin’s creative activities alongside 165 babies, children and young people up to 24-years-old with care experience. The charity, which was established in 2016, is working with Tialt, There is an alternative, to create evaluation methodologies that are mindful of the principles of trauma-informed practice.
“The children, young people and social workers we work with tell us that they see and experience benefits such as increased confidence; development of new skills; strengthening of relationships and a better understanding of care and identity,” Young explains. “They also have raised ambitions and are better able to express their feelings and emotions.”
The projects are funded by trusts and foundations and local authorities. “It’s a 50/50 income split,” Young explains. “Local authorities tell us that they work with us because they trust us; they know we understand the work; they know it’s underpinned by principles of trauma-informed care and their children and young people and carers are going to be held safely. They also know that we’re in this for the long term.”
This is the Place project has recently received funding to be delivered for another three years in Darlington and is being rolled out in Redcar & Cleveland Council.
“The partners, funders and local authorities are seeing the real value of the work that’s being done,” Young says. “Partnerships with local authorities are central to our work. We work together to recruit the children and carers, staff the projects, plan them, evaluate them and apply for funding.
“Ultimately, in working together, we are offering something really important and sustainable for care-experienced children and young people and the adults in their lives.”
