Project team: Dr Debra Salmon (Lead) and Caroline Rickaby
Funded by: Government Office for the South West
City of One is written by Mike Akers with original music by Benji Bower, and directed by Heather Williams, Artistic Director of Myrtle Theatre Company. The specially commissioned original play with music will explore the experiences of children who are in the care of local authorities usually described as 'looked-after children' and related themes such as the social exclusion; and in particular the role of arts in improving mental and emotional well-being. Crucially, it aims to raise the profile of the Care Matters: Time for Change White Paper, and by including a number of children and young people living within the care system, help to deliver one of its key aims by providing opportunities to develop young people’s talents and skills and support their emotional well-being.
The aim of this evaluation is to assess the impact of involvement in the ‘City of One - a theatre and music initiative’ on the experiences of a group of young people who are currently looked-after or in the process of leaving the care system. The objectives of the evaluation are: to understand the experiences of the young people participating in the project and identify any development of key skills and assess any potential impacts on participant’s health and well-being. The perspectives of young people lie at the heart of this evaluation and involve undertaking semi-structured interviews with ten young people prior to and after delivery of the performance. In addition, a group of foster and residential carers and theatre company members will also be undertaken to identify strengths and weaknesses of the project from their perspective. The purpose of the evaluation is to inform future practise and to help build a body of evaluation for the region discussing the impact of arts provision for children and young people ‘looked-after’.
Duration: July 2007 - January 2008
Copies of the Executive Summary and Full Report are available here: Executive Summary Full Report
For further information contact Dr Debra Salmon:
Debra.Salmon@uwe.ac.uk
+44 (0)117 32 88468