Welcome to Creative Kids

OUR VISION OF THE FUTURE

Our vision is a community that invests in its children's creativity. Where all children are given free access to the arts so they can realise their creative potential and are inspired to build for themselves a vibrant, diverse and connected community.

WHAT WE DO

To accomplish our vision in the short term we create and produce free arts events in the Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset region that encourage children's participation and engagement with the arts and local artists. To effect long term community change, we work together with vulnerable children who, with our support, are given the project management tools to create their own arts events in the local community. Our community events are aimed at all children aged 4-18. Our outreach programs specifically target children in need. The experience helps children develop leadership skills, builds confidence and self esteem and opens doors to further education, employment and new business in the creative sector.

WHAT WE ARE AIMING AT

• To work towards inspiring young imaginations, bringing young people and creative practitioners together.
• To give vulnerable children and young people (4 - 18) from the most deprived areas of our community, who are excluded from arts activities by means of their poverty, the opportunity to engage in arts events that will improve their life skills and help alleviate them from the issues caused by their hardship.
• To nurture children's well-being by using the arts to encourage cooperation and problem solving, free expression, communication, imagination, creativity and trust building.
• To promote children's health through arts activities.
• To raise awareness of Creative Kids within the local community and to develop and promote its services in order to encourage greater participation, community coalescence and donations for future sustainability.
• To enlist workers from the voluntary sector including work experience/placements students.
• To build Creative Partnerships with similar service providers in order to foster a collaborative working environment.

OUTCOMES

Our projects will help children and young people achieve the following outcomes;

• Helping young people improve life skills by encouraging cooperation and problem solving, free expression, communication, imagination, creativity, risk taking and trust building.
• Encouraging young people to play a more active role in the community.
• Making the community a more vibrant, diverse and connected place to live.
• Young people awarded a national qualification (GCSE) through the Arts Award Program.
• Confident young people with the project management skills, business acumen and contacts to grow as young creative entrepreneurs.
• Young people progressing onto further education opportunities, work placements or apprenticeships.
• Broadening young people's knowledge and understanding of community arts and its cultural context.
• Reducing truancy and increasing attendance in schools.
• Actively engaging young people in understanding their feelings, attitudes and barriers to learning.
• Equipping young people with effective social and creative tools to help them participate in new social networks, which results in decreased social isolation and antisocial behaviour.

These individuals will hopefully go on to become ambassadors for the arts, engaging and recruiting other young people from their communities into the project. Creative Kids is a powerful and effective way to engage some of the most disaffected young people in the community.