Short Break Stories

Creative Break

A story by Edinburgh Young Carers Project

30 Young Carers aged 9-15 had the opportunity to go on a unique arts break for 3 nights and 4 days to Ingestre Hall, Staffordshire.

This trip offered respite whilst giving young carers the chance to develop and explore their creative talents and skills.

What Creative Break did

Staff/Volunteer Recruitment, no recruitment was necessary for this break as we had identified 4 core staff and 1 sessional worker for this break who already worked for the organisation and between us, knew the young people well.

Identification of Young Carers for this break, we sent letters, texts and put details of the trip on our Facebook and asked the young people to get back to us if interested. Whilst doing this staff had already identified young people who they thought would benefit and be interested in the trip to Ingestre Hall.

Firstly many of the young carers we work with are incredibly creative and have artistic skills over all art forms but due to to their caring responsibilities they do not always have time and/or the opportunity to utilise these talents. Secondly the young people we work with had fed back to us that although they enjoy 'physical activity led' residential trips that they would love the opportunity to go away where this is not one of the key themes of the break.

We identified a need and a gap in the residential provision that had been provided therefore we sought to create and find a 'Creative Break'. During research we discovered Ingestre Hall in Staffordshire. Ingestre Hall is a unique arts centre that offers tailored arts breaks for anyone looking to have a break whilst developing their skills. Once we had spoken with the staff we spoke to the young people and decided that this would be a tremendous opportunity for the young people.

We decided on a 3 night, 4 day stay during the summer holidays in August (the week before the young people went back to school). We hoped this would be a positive end to the summer holidays whilst giving the young people time to relax, have fun and participate in arts workshops therefore feeling more rested for going back to school.

The Break, all young people were offered the opportunity to take part in art, drama, dance and music workshops, each young person made a first choice where they would spend most of their time and a second choice so they could have a taster of another art form. They worked on sharing for the final day to showcase what they had done.

Ronnie is 9 and helps to care for his mum who has chronic arthritis which affects her mobility and her energy levels. He has 2 younger brothers who are incredibly energetic and needs lots of play, fun and stimulation. Ronnie helps to get his brothers ready, plays with them and helps mum with anything she needs or if she needs a break.

He is incredibly artistic and only ever manages to do this in school due to his caring responsibilities. On this creative break Ronnie was given the chance to spend three days focusing on art, he had the chance to relax, spend time with his friends and create. On his return we had identified just how much this had been of benefit to him, his mum realised how much he did and how much she missed him.

Therefore on his return we have identified other family supports that can be put in place whilst sourcing dedicated one to one arts tuition for Ronnie to continue developing his artistic skills.

Selena is 14 years old and cares for her mum who suffers from chronic pain and mental health difficulties. She chose to come on this break as she has interest in the arts and at that time had identified that she did not have much time for herself. Whilst on the break, Selena had time to think about her caring role and her responsibilities at home. She spent time speaking with staff and her peers about the challenges she has faced at home.

We identified the need for one to one support and since our return, she has identified the need for support with her mental health and more time for herself. She is currently accessing one to one support at Edinburgh Young Carers Project and has been referred to a befriending service and has visited her GP who has referred her for support with her mental wellbeing.
Adam is 10 years old and helps to care for his mum who has a physical disability. Due to his families circumstances it can be hard for Adam to get a break, he and his family were keen that he came on the creative break. During this break he had time with friends he has made at the project and dedicated time spent on his favourite art form. In the past Adam and his family have been reluctant to ask for other supports. Before the break, the relationship with his family was made stronger due to several discussions we had about Adam going away.

On his return his parents could see how beneficial the trip and been for him. Also EYCP were able to identify what else may be beneficial for Adam and his family. Since the creative break, Adam and his dad accessed some quality time together which was supported by Edinburgh Young Carers Project. Since then we have been exploring other supports that may be suitable which the family are open to.

What Edinburgh Young Carers Project has learned

This fund gave the Young Carers at Edinburgh Young Carers Project an incredible opportunity they otherwise would not have had. The importance of the variety and different types of residential break, we pride ourselves at Edinburgh Young Carers Project on tailoring respite to the needs of the young people but often our residential breaks have a physical theme. We have realised the importance of nurturing the creativeness of the young people and the benefits this can have.

Last minute cancellations from young people, we had 35 identified and ready to go but due to varying reasons 5 young people were unable to come along. As a staff team we got to know many of the young people a lot better on this trip therefore creating stronger relationships which has resulted in us being able to identify the different types of support required for example family support, one to one support, referral to different agencies such as befrienders.
Top tips Edinburgh Young Carers Project's top tips for an organisation that wants to run a similar project
Tip 1:
Do your research!

When planning this break it was imperative that we did our research to find the right facility for the trip. This trip was completely new and unique for us and the young people, therefore we had to get it right.

Google lots of chat and discussion (amongst young people, staff and Ingestre Hall) made sure we booked the right place for this creative break.
Tip 2:
Make your bus journey part of the trip!

It was an eight hour bus journey for us which the young people found very long and quite tiring. Were we to do to again we may have added an extra night on and stopped halfway to add to the trip so we could explore somewhere else.

Again we could have stayed an extra night on other side and left early and had an activity in the middle to break it up.
Tip 3:
Make the most out of every moment, use your surroundings and your imagination

The young people had scheduled time to relax in between workshops and in the evenings. We took some games equipment with us, books and lots of art materials. Luckily we had beautiful weather which resulted in an impromptu 'tug of war', team games and a massive game of rounders.

We also took lots of walks around the grounds and encouraged the young people to explore. These activities only enhanced the trip and some of the young people (and staff) memories are from these times.