Leone Buncombe, Operations Manager, RPT
Image by Zain (age 11), runner-up in the Chestertons photography competition
Our summer programme this year was aimed at engaging as many young people as possible in creative arts, as a form of expression.
This was especially important given the lockdown situation. For many of our young people, as for much of the country, being able to spend normal amounts of time outside was not feasible, so being able to express themselves creatively was really important to support their wellbeing.
Creative career pathways
Image by Tino Chiwariro, winner
Most of our workshops were online for obvious reasons, but the variety was huge:
Image by Rayya, second place
We also held two competitions online. The creative writing competition will select the top ten entries to be featured in a printed book we aim to sell as part of a fundraising campaign for Amplify. Our photography competition was supported by Chestertons Estate Agency who provided £500 cash which allowed us to award prizes for the top 3 entries and vouchers for some of the runners-up.
Check out the pictures from the photo competition above and see all the winners and runners-up here!
Music and soundscapes
We were fortunately allowed to offer some face-to-face sessions. Two bubbles were created for two separate groups so that we could hold a Finding Rhythms two-week music workshop at RPT. The groups worked on an album ‘6 Days Of Magic’, which has now been completed and includes 11 original pieces created by the participants. You can stream the album HERE.
The ‘To be Invisible’ soundscape by Martyn Ware and Zachary Eastwood-Bloom went on show in August in Westbourne Grove. A group of young people took part in creating the original sound art piece with Martyn (who you might recognise from eighties pop band Human League) at RPT’s Amplify Studios. The exhibition series ‘Breath is Invisible’ also featured the artist Khadija Saye who died in the Grenfell Tower tragedy. They were then able to produce their own original pieces which Martyn is going to promote on his own platform in the near future.
With the easing of lockdown, we opened the music studios on Wednesday and Friday evenings. As well as the ability to make original music, young people had the opportunities to meet with our youth team for mentoring sessions to discuss more personal issues.
