This kind of creative child-centred practice allows Creative Mentors to be flexible and non-judgmental, and gives control and choice to their Creative Mentees.
All names used have been changed to protect the identity of our children and young people.
Over the last three years, we have taken a deeper dive into our Creative Mentoring programme, exploring why it works, the impact it has and fine-tuning our processes and model. As an evidence-based programme, evidencing and understanding our impact is very important.
Creative Mentoring is our award-winning service that provides one-to-one support, supporting children and young people who are care-experienced, facing adversity, disadvantage or challenges to discover their sense of self, belonging, and a world of opportunities through creative practices. It follows a model combining creativity and the artistic practice of artists with person-centred approaches, informed and rooted in social pedagogical practices.
Click here to see how it works!
This way of working is flexible, adaptable, playful, experimental, and most importantly creative. However, sometimes that golden thread is hard to capture, and we find ourselves asking questions like…
We’ve researched our training models and the model behind our practice; have worked with children and young people who have received Creative Mentoring, as well as their families, referral partners and key professionals; and have worked with our various stakeholders and partners to understand what the ‘golden thread’ is and why it’s important.
In a 12-month long research project, conducted by researcher Vivien Niblett, we learnt that…
without a creative person-centred approach, the impact we see and that our children and young people experience, would not be possible.
Virtually all Creative Mentors (96%) and referral partners (89%) consulted with in our research felt that creativity was instrumental in the changes they had observed in their children and young people.
It’s a similar picture with person-centred approaches…
Virtually all Creative Mentors (94%) and referral partners (94%) felt that a person-centred approach is also instrumental in the changes seen.
Our young participants (Creative Mentees) also reported similarly…
She’s just very creative… in herself and in what we do together… she can always figure it out, in a creative way, to do something. (Thomas, Post-16 Creative Mentee)
She respects your thoughts… doesn’t tell you things are wrong or not correct. (Rhiannon, Post-16 Creative Mentee)
The days that I wanted to do something, I would say it and we’d do it. And the days that I wasn’t really sure, we’d sort of suggest things together until I found something that I thought ‘yeah’ – it was nice having the freedom of it… having lots of choices. (Alexis, Secondary-aged Creative Mentee)
Even their carers agreed…
She’s very warm and approachable – asks open-ended questions, makes the effort to get to know us… and it’s working a treat. (Sara’s [Secondary-aged Mentee] Grandma and Carer)
You were chatting, without realising you were chatting, at the same time as drawing, weren’t you? You realised you’re quite relaxed and you’re enjoying it and you’re being quite open. (Alexis’ [Secondary-aged Mentee] Carer)
What they’re describing here is what we call the ‘third space’ – the place where creativity and person-centred practice collides. It’s where a shared activity, of joy and discovery, supports the building of a relationship to enable better, deeper and more meaningful conversations. You can find out a little more about the concept of the ‘common third’ on ThemPra’s website.
One of our Local Authority partners did a fantastic job of summing up the impact of the ‘third space’…
The creative task provides a focus to take the spotlight off the young person, so unlike in a counselling situation – there is no expectation that they have to talk about their personal lives and problems if they don’t want to. (Referral Partner, Local Authority)
Well, through our research, we learnt that this approach has an impressive impact on the Creative Mentee. The Creative Mentee can shape their own individual journey, with the support net and scaffolding provided by their Creative Mentor. Referrers, Creative Mentors and Creative Mentees reported that Creative Mentoring positively impacts:
Hear below from our report…
They have a stronger belief in themselves, starting to develop their own identity and can find joy in life. (Referral Partner from a Virtual School)
Having someone outside of the family and Social Care that they can form a relationship with, and begin to trust adults again. (Referral Partner)
The importance of all of this is that children and young people can work towards developing a deeper sense of self-actualisation, begin to understand who they are as a person, what they’re good that, what they enjoy doing, and what opportunities are available to them. This helps them to re-engage positively in society and the community around them, whether that is school, friends, employment or otherwise.
They definitely guided me to do more of the right things. (Thomas)
I assessed what she’s good at, what she’s strong at and then built, built, built and, in turn, that helps build self-esteem. (Alicia, Rhiannon’s Creative Mentor)
And during that time, he’s grown in confidence… he’s always had the confidence within himself in the class – but I’ve noticed that in him, how he is with others, how he interacts with others… And sometimes that confidence can be misplaced and get him into trouble – but I think it’s important he knows his value in society. (Lee, Samuel’s [Primary-Aged Creative Mentee], Designated Teacher)
As an evidence-based service, we continue to review, monitor and adapt our work to make it the best we can for the children and young people we serve, and have the biggest impact. Since 2018, we have supported 531 Creative Mentees through their person-centred Creative Mentoring journey, 87% of whom are care-experienced, delivered nearly 10,000 hours of Creative Mentoring.
We pledge to continue to deliver this work, so every child in need of Creative Mentoring has access to it.
Simply complete the form below to download our report and hear from our researcher.
