Step in/try out/open up
Adventure takes hold
Lightfulness…giggling
Together side-by-side
Playful magic sparks joy
Vulnerability to value-ability
(word fragments from A Call for Being Together Differently)

We worked with PHACE (the local cultural education partnership for Peterborough) as part of Fullscope’s Creative Care project, sharing resources and thinking for developing their Creative Parenting Programme. Two pilot projects led by PHACE, and working with artist Susanne Jasilek, supported colleagues from schools and educational settings to work creatively with families during 2020/21. The many rich threads of learning from these projects - including reflections from participants, data from school, feedback from families, and observations from colleagues - were shared with researchers Gabby Arenge and Emily Dowdeswell as material from which to create a new CCI ‘artput’. The process was beautifully supported by artist Susanne Jasilek, who helped realise their ideas in a sculptural form. 

Unlike reports or presentations, with their tendency to not quite convey the power of the work plus their propensity to gather dust, we wanted an output from this work that sparked new conversations and continued to open up these new way so working for colleagues.

Fullscope is committed to finding new ways to improve the system for supporting children and young people’s mental health and well-being. This initiative brilliantly illustrates how collaborative working across sectors and organisations can develop new ideas. It’s early days for this new resource but feedback from our Fullscope partners meeting and with Peterborough colleagues confirm our commitment to this innovative approach.

Watch this short film, made for the Power of Partnerships 2022 event, which introduced colleagues to the call which formed the opening invitation for the gathering. We’d like to share it with other colleagues too so do please email if there’s a group you are working with who might be interested in these ideas.