OYAP Trust works with young people aged 7-25, especially those most isolated, vulnerable and at risk using inspirational arts projects to encourage and support development. It uses creativity and the arts to provide opportunities to learn, develop skills, gain confidence and realise potential. It does this by working in partnership with inspirational artists and the wider community, enabling participants to realise their own personal, social and leadership skills, becoming catalysts for change in their own lives and in their communities.
OYAP case study – Hannah Bruce
Hannah Bruce was one of the OYAP mentees who, after a difficult adolescence, joined the Stepping Up programme aimed at supporting young artists to develop the skills and belief to build a career in the arts. While she was supported by the OYAP course leaders, she valued the ability to choose a mentor who was also a musician and had a similar ‘vibe’. She had always been exposed to artists & facilitators who were highly outgoing and extroverted, so really appreciated the ability to select a mentor who was not only successful, but a more introverted character. This clearly provided a role model she was more able to identify with.
The programme gives young people the opportunity to set up a project of their choice and with the support of their mentor, to take that project to delivery. Through that process Hannah describes how her mentor helped. “He made me question my thought process and raised questions I had not thought of. It was space for me, where I could discuss my ideas in a non-judgmental space.”
However, the greatest change for her was in her confidence. She describes how important it was to have “someone who believed in me, and noticed my way of thinking. It was really valuable to have the space to talk over my anxieties with a respected person”. By achieving her self-defined project milestones and being given the opportunity to work at the edges of her comfort zone she noticed that she ‘came back with confidence’.
Hannah ultimately rose to take a project manager role with Ark T, organising numerous events and activities, but is also an active musician who now has a band and performs locally. Her mentor helped her not only to build on the project management skills learnt on the course, but also to develop her musical persona.
Hannah Bruce, project manager, Ark T
http://www.ark-t.org/