Providing training for Youth Offending Teams, the Youth Service and other organisations on how to use creative writing with young people. I also run creative writing and drama workshops with all ages and recently worked on 'artbeat' for activ8 at Bolton Octagon, and with refugee writers at Contact Theatre. My publication Write Up Your Street published by Young Voice describes some of the methods I use.

     Below, young people at Eccles Youth Club Salford; character exercise.

 

I produced four editions of a creative  writing magazine with young people for Trafford Youth Offending Services; three young people won Koestler Awards and the magazines won a Koestler First Prize in 2007.

Courses on using creative writing with young people include:

Getting Started

  • Writing warm ups you can use with youngsters.    

 Someone Else's Shoes  

  • Creating a character and developing a monologue.
  • Using photographs, colour, music and memory as stimuli.    

Behind the Lines

  • Confessional writing.
  • Coping with the catharsis.    

What's the Story?  

  • Narrative and metaphor.    

Making a Scene

  • Using dialogue to think about conflict.      

Cover to Cover

  • Getting a magazine off the ground.
  • Obstacles to overcome.

Courses are from one to two days with follow up consultancy provided. 

 

Participants Feedback:    

 "Really useful for enabling young people to develop emotional literacy" Course member Bury YOT.

"Inspiring" Course member Bolton Youth Offending Team    

"Brought out the artistic talents I didn't know I had" Course member Wigan YOT    

 "A good way for young people to reflect and express themselves - a good tool for basic literacy" Course member Manchester YOT.  

Below, staff from Bury Youth Offending Team take part in a monolgue exercise

Young people on writing:    

"If people are bad they are bad for a reason. It's in their childhood. Maybe if they write about it, it might change aspects of their behaviour." Sixteen year old boy on a one year Referral Order.    

"Writing chills me out and makes me think about what I'm doing. I can tell a good story" Sixteen year old boy on ISSP Supervision.        

 "I wrote poems about my life. It's helping me with my spelling, writing and reading." Sixteen year old boy on Supervision.    

Benefits of using creative writing with young people:

  • Helps build relationships with young people
  • Improves literacy and concentration
  • Helps develop emotional literacy
  • Can improve self esteem
  • Can be cathartic for young people
Registered with the Anne Peaker Centre as a practitioner of arts in the criminal justice system. 

Visiting lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University's Social Work Dept on arts work in the criminal justice system.