Making Places Guide:
Following up a series of residentials delivered with Care Experienced young people since 2015, the TVF team has published the toolkit Making Places Guide, a guide on running TVF residentials at Universities and how to support Care Experienced young people into accessing Higher Education
Below you’ll find the records of some of the residentials delivered and
creative outputs produced collaboratively with our young co-researchers.
No Dream is Too Big – Residential (Queen Mary University)
In 2017 TVF invited eight care-experienced young people to Queen Mary University of London to spend two nights on campus, getting a taster of University of life. The workshops consisted of a range of drama and verbatim methods around the theme No Dream is Too Big. The TVF and young researcher team held interventions by going into staff offices where they performed testimonies about their experiences of care which are relevant to accessing university support services.
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University of East London Residential
In 2019, TVF collaborated with The University of East London (Department of Drama and the Department of Social Care), Newham’s Local Authority Children’s Services and Virtual Schools. The residential involved 2 days and one night where 6 young people joined the team to explore themes around care.
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Goldsmiths University Residential
In 2018 TVF collaborated with The University of Goldsmiths (Applied Theatre Department, and Widening Participation team), Lewisham Borough Council and Virtual Schools to run a residential that offered nine care- experienced young people the opportunity to spend a weekend on campus, gaining insights into student life and learning. Over two days, the group participated in verbatim theatre, visual art and other reflective drama-based activities to explore their experiences and feelings about the future, including themes such as power, authority, and identity. The WideningParticipation team also advised and supported them in conversations around their future aspirations. It culminated in an informal performance with peers, university staff, social workers, virtual school staff, and foster parents/ carers.
The project was such a success that the Goldsmiths team ran another residential in 2019, using the TVF method. They also made changes in the Widening Participation department by bringing young people on to their board, and created a regular drama club for young people in the local area.
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Battersea Arts Centre CLICK workshop, Audio ChatBack
In 2018, TVF ran a weekend-long event where we worked with 12 young people from Wandsworth’s CLICK (Children Living in Care Council). We co-created an immersive experience for audience members, who were taken on a journey through the building, hearing testimonies along the way. The performance was followed by a discussion, led by the young researchers, with the audience members that comprised of Wandsworth social workers, foster careers, participation officers, members from the Department for Education, researchers, theatres makers, and more.
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Greenwich University Residential
In June 2019 The University of Greenwich (Drama department, Bathway Theatre and Widening Participation) collaborated with TVF to run a residential for 12 participants, including eight unaccompanied minors. The group explored different Verbatim Theatre and other theatre techniques to explore hopes and future ambitions. We held a sharing for the Virtual School manager, foster carers and university staff.
CLICK HERE to read an evaluation done by creative evaluator Mita Pujara.
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MY STORY, MY WORDS – Workshop at Wandsworth Council and event at UK Department for Education
In 2019, TVF collaborated with a group of young people from the Wandsworth CLICK (Children Living in Care Council) to design and produce content for an event “My Story, My Words”. The event was hosted by the Minister for Children, Nadhim Zahawi at the Department of Education UK. It was the final part of a four-day workshop programme facilitated by The Verbatim Formula, run in collaboration with the young people for them to evaluate their experiences of the care system and to express this to decision-makers. Through these workshops they made a Zine, created by Ed Grace and a 3D digital verbatim sculpture, created by John Morrison of Napier University, Edinburgh. The sculpture uses QR codes to give ongoing access to testimonies from care.
Zine: The system needs to change (Click here to download Zine)
This zine was created by a group of looked after young people and children in Wandsworth Children’s Services. One side exhibits some of their artworks, the other represents key issues and challenges they face by being in care the systems, and what they believe needs to change. This was illustrated and designed by Ed Grace (http://www.edgrace.co.uk/)
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QR Code: 3D Scupture “Sometimes a hug means a lot”
This is a 3D sculpture of statues that we created where the young researchers embodied different themes of their experiences of being in care. SCAN the photo to experience.
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Wandsworth Council CLICK – Greater London Authority Workshop
Through late 2019 to early 2020, TVF collaborated with a group of 11 young people from Wandsworth’s CLICK (Children Living in Care Council) and some of the Peer Outreach Team members from the Greater London Authority. Together with creative practitioners, poet and photographer Raphael Blake (https://raphaelblake.com/) and activist and theatre maker Tommy Ross-Williams they created poems, recordings, artworks and immersive theatre games to give an intimate and strong expression of their experiences of the care system and as individuals in the world. Part of this work informed an exhibition held at the event Can You See Me?, at City Hall, as well as their immersive theatre experiences – see event section for more details and see below for downloading the exhibition booklet and scan through the poems recorded by the young people.
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