Research and Development

In order to develop key messages for our youth led music and video production, the team all shared their experiences of care by creatinge a character with a backstory which will form the inspiration for the track they write. Along side Inspired Youth, Kritikal and Access to Music we worked as a team in a professional environment at York St John University.  They explored feelings they had experienced on their journey through care/leaving care and situations they had faced. Even though being in care had presented the young people with difficult experiences, they felt overall they shouldn’t let these things determine their future or hold back their progress in life. Although the reality of care can mean moving around a lot, making you feel unsettled, sometimes lost, confused and detatched. The session created a very realistic and moving overview of their individual and shared experiences which will inform and shape the next stage of the creative process, when the team will write and record a proffessional track along side recording artists.

We explored what it can feel like being in care. Some experiences were really negative or sad and some were positive and happy. Care can really work for some, but for others is really disruptive and unsettling.

Some of the group felt that society had preconceptions about children and young people in care /leaving care and wanted to address these stereotypes. 

The group explored preconceptions (in red) about young people and care and also what they saw as the real truths (in blue) about themselves as individuals.

The group worked hard as a team and brought loads of ideas to the mix. It was a productive and emotional day with plenty energy and laughs along the way!

After they had created a character the team wrote back stories for the characters they had created. Some of the group brought in ideas and lyrics they had already written, it was a fantastic first session and the group have lots of material to move forward to the writing and recording of the track.