Introducing the Element Network vid (and what this means with covid-19)
Reasons to be cheerful if you’re self-isolating:
We’ve got a new video = brand new content so you don’t have to re-re-re-re-watch that episode of Friends
You’re not in the office = you can listen to said video as loudly as you like
You’re probably on the internet quite a lot = you can share something that isn’t doom-and-gloom
Over the past few months, Element Young Creatives have been working on a video about Element’s post-project network. This came off the back of finishing up projects and trying to explain to current participants what was next in terms of support and opportunities from Element. This piece of our work - in which we support the continued creativity of participants, meet with them to discuss exciting new opportunities from our partners and within Element, and organise group trips to theatres, galleries, and museums - can be quite hard to explain during a project, whilst everyone is finishing off pieces before their showcase! And yet the network is an integral part of Element’s work, evidencing one of our major values, that support must be long-lasting and offer tangible and ambitious progression routes. Plus, we realised, Element Young Creatives would probably be way more proficient in explaining what the network means and how it works than us.
So we called on our long-term collaborator Tom Edkins, a photographer and filmmaker who runs Element’s photography masterclass sessions, to see if he would make a film with Element alumni about their experiences of the network. We all wanted it to be playful, welcoming, and informative. Tom came to our office for a drop-in session and then to one of our cultural trips to see Pass Over at the Kiln Theatre (a remarkable play that got top billing from the group). He also asked alumni to capture little skits of themselves on other cultural trips with Element.
We’re super chuffed with the result, and are really excited to share it with you. We hope you’ll agree that it captures the creativity, curiosity, and collaboration of the Element network and the wonderful young people who make it. Enjoy!
What does this mean in light of COVID-19?
It’s funny to think that this video, which shows a typical group gathering of Element Young Creatives, is starting to feel more and more like a thing from the past: a vintage time capsule from a world in which we were encouraged to meet-up, plan group trips, and explore our city. Here at Element, our working lives have shifted considerably. Like many charitable organisations, our work is heavily delivery-based: our main form of youth engagement - and a huge part of our work - is running group projects in schools and youth settings. From an organisational point of view, this model is likely to look very different over the next few months. From a youth support point of view, we face a real challenge: creating spaces where young people can come together and create is a key value for Element. We may not be able to run “live” group projects for the foreseeable, but we feel strongly that we must continue our creative support of the amazing young people we work with. And so we’ve created a plan for the next couple of months. This may have to be extended; it may change up a bit once we’ve got some feedback from Element alumni; but for now this is how we’ll be working together with Element Young Creatives:
We’ll continue to be in contact with Element alumni through our pre-existing group chats. These tools continue to serve us well as a creative community, so we’ll be regularly checking in with the group, maintaining conversations and sharing jokes, as per!
We’ll also be using this platform to create a timetable of activities, as a way of connecting during social distancing/self-isolation. We’ll be posting daily creative challenges, making interactive quizzes, going on group virtual gallery tours, and sharing books, films, and other creative resources to get stuck into.
We’ll be running our fortnightly creative drop-in sessions via an online video platform, to keep up the routine and regularity of Element Young Creatives getting together and making art. We’ll be encouraging and supporting alumni to run their own activities during this time, sharing their creative skills and practicing their online facilitation!
We’ll be offering the Bronze Arts Award as an online course to any alumni who is interested in working towards a qualification during this time.
We’ll continue to liaise with our wonderful partners: Local Authority Leaving Care Teams, Virtual Schools and West London Zone, to develop further responsive and creative projects and approaches to support the children and young people that we are lucky enough to be working with. We send immense thanks to the Local Authority teams who are continuing to work and to meet with vulnerable young people, showing truly important support and care during these uncertain times.
Our number one priority is creatively supporting Element Young Creatives. The reason we think this is so important, however, is universally applicable: engaging in your own creativity and sharing this with others can reduce isolation, increase wellbeing, create connections, form learning and development opportunities, and stimulate reflection and calm. From where we’re sitting (I’m working from home on my pink plastic desk chair from when I was eleven years old, just so you know), we could all do with these effects - perhaps now more than ever. We’ll be sharing creative challenges on our Insta and Twitter pages, for anyone to join in with - we’d love to see your own examples and open up the dialogue!
Looking forward to e-creating with you, and take care,
Alex, Elo and Maeve X