CRISIS CAFE NI
PROGRAMME DETAILS
Funk Soul Media CIC delivered the Reconnect NI programme for the young people of Crisis Cafe NI over an eight week period starting in February 2022. The participants aged between thirteen and nineteen engaged in fun and creative activities such as; filmmaking, videography, rap, dance and song writing. We averaged twelve – fifteen young people each week who would actively engage in the creative media workshops. Over one hundred young people were engaged in the programme over all with some young people engaging for one workshop and others engaging for the entire programme duration. The impact of the creative media workshops on the young peoples’ emotional well-being has been phenomenal. There was an evident growth in self confidence and stress relief amongst the young people as a result of the programme.
OUTCOMES
There were very positive outcomes for the young people which have been outlined below. The young people told us they needed the workshops as previously they have felt disengaged from their peer groups, isolated from the impact of Covid-19 and depressed because of the lack of positive activities in their lives. The young people have told us they enjoyed being able to safely express their emotions and feelings through the median vehicles of filmmaking, script writing and song writing. The young people told us they were able to escape the worries, stresses and anxieties of life by immersing themselves in fun, creative and inspiring creative media workshops. The young people have told us they felt valued by having their stories listened to by others. The young people told us the workshops provide an escape and release. The young people feel their identities are protected by having their stories verbalised by rappers and actors. The young people have told us they are enjoying developing audio/visual technical skills in a safe and fun environment. The wider beneficiaries of the young peoples’ improved emotional well-being was the local community as well as the participants’ parents and teachers.