Investment theme: Growing social connections
Purpose:
to purchase 18 Kindle Fire tablets to provide to families to allow them to maintain support and access activities during the period of lock down
Year of grant: 16/4/2020
FR Number: FR-0052903
Amount awarded: £1852
Location: GLASGOW
Full description
Given the reliance on technology we are aware that we need to do all we can to combat the digital exclusion being experience by these already challenged young women and mothers. We currently have two female-only projects that would really benefit from better technology equipment. During this period of lock-down, the participants? lack of digital technology is hampering our efforts to reach these young women. Poverty remains the biggest human rights issue in Scotland and as we rely on virtual environments for education, social time and to provide family and individual support, we need to make sure that we do our best to address the risks and consequences of digital exclusion. We know too that we need to be able to support on the basis that the lockdown may last for an extended period and so the often outdated and broken kit, required hard- and software, technological supports and ongoing engagement required our heightened attention.
The first project is the Blue Light Blue project that is running in Dundee, in conjunction with Breakthrough, Dundee. Breakthrough, Dundee supports young people in the city's secondary schools and provides aspirational mentorship and inclusive opportunity. By connecting young people with carefully selected and trained volunteer mentors and educational organisations such as Articulate, Breakthrough aims to provide the guidance and opportunity that can transform lives and counteract the long-term effects of adverse experience.
Articulate have now worked with Breakthrough on a number of projects, including a music-making project and a young researchers? projects. Blue Light Blue will engage 12 care experienced young women over the next year. We were awarded funding towards the project by the Tampon Tax in December but the project has had to be reformulated due to the current COVID-19 crisis. This will mean additional costs towards providing the young women with technology, a cost that we hadn?t originally budgeted for. The artist residency project and bespoke activities that were planned, will now go online and will need all the participants to have reliable, up to date technology with apps for them to access streamed classes and apps for creative projects, photography, film-making and file sharing. For all the work to be consistently accessible by the young people it will be important for them all to have a device and the same apps. This will enable the artist residency to go ahead.
The second female-only project that Articulate are currently running is Dot to Dot. Dot to Dot has been developed as an immediate response to needs that have been identified by six care experienced parents -from Glasgow, Saltcoats and Airdrie - that Articulate has worked with over the last three years. They have all highlighted increased feeling of isolation, significant dips in mental well-being and a struggle to manage their children's care and stimulation needs. They feel lack of materials, equipment, skills and support networks are barriers to them overcoming these newly presented or exacerbated challenges. ?It?s like I need someone to help me connect the dots and give me the ideas, materials and support to be able to cope better with looking after my wee boy and for my own sanity.? Danni, care experienced parent, North Ayrshire. Dot to Dot will deliver imaginative, inclusive and creative activities and supports that allows care experienced parents/carers to overcome this unique set of challenges.
Both projects will focus on four streams of activity:
Equipment, data, and materials: We will ensure that everyone is able to engage with the content we are creating by providing equipment data and art materials for the home.
Peer support network: Connecting care experienced young people and care experienced parents to their peers and creating a digital space for them to share their experiences, ideas and challenges.
Artist-lead workshops: A programme that will be informed by the conversations that we are already having with participants about things they would like to learn for their own development and in the case of Dot to Dot, for family-oriented activities.
Digital literacy: To equip participants with the skills and knowledge to be in control of their own digital citizenship and be aware of how to keep themselves safe and well online.
A fifth stream of activity for the Dot-to Dot project will be child-focussed webinars: activities aimed at engaging the children to allow the parents space to relax without having to stimulate the child. Live storytelling sessions, magic shows, dance workshops, etc. will form part of this creative learning stream.
We will host all these activities, as well as other selected online resources, on an online platform to filter the deluge and support the families to engage without becoming overwhelmed.
Participants will also be invited to access our weekly online webinars (Friday evenings at 7pm) that are designed to deal with the social and mental challenges of isolation in creative and constructive ways.
The project will remain responsive and reactive to the constantly evolving situation and needs of the participants. We are initially planning for six months of supported engagement after which we would be seeking new support to keep these structures in place post-crisis if and as required and understood through feedback and evaluation.
To enable both these projects to run online we would ask the Women?s Fund to help us provide all of the 18 participants with a tablet device. We have sourced a £100 tablet - Amazon Fire HD 8 Tablet ? which our artist-tutors have advised would be suitable for the work they are planning to do with the young women. To be able to provide every participant on these two projects with a tablet onto which they can consistently download the same appropriate apps as the other participants will allow these hugely valuable projects to succeed during socially isolating times.
