With nothing to do and little space to be themselves, young sanctuary seekers who live in temporary accomodation do not get to enjoy the same freedoms as their peers - but our work aims to change that.
We've been proud to have spent time creating inspiring opportunities for young people living in Greater Manchester's hotels - read on to find out more.
For this session, Afrocats artist Loren developed an art and craft activity for the young sanctuary seekers with the aim of creating a pop-up landscape with coloured card and felt tips.
This was the final session for this group of young people as they were due to move into more permanent accomodation - and the it was clear that the one thing on everyone’s mind was moving.
One young participant told us “I go to my new house tomorrow,” and another said, “we just went to see a house and it was AMAZING!”
With this as inspiration, many children created their pop-up landscape to look like their new home and included their dream pets on the front lawn, and was so positive to see all the children coming together to share their experiences.
Whilst there was excitement brewing, the session was also tinged with sadness as the children will be moving across the country away from each other, with some going as far as Blackpool.
This did come with its challenges as emotions were high but our skilled team of artists and producers were quick to change the tempo of the session to help expel some of that emotional energy.
Clearing the room we all got stuck into playing musical statues, giving the children the opportunity to move and dance with their feelings rather than sitting still and dwelling on them.
It was important for us to adapt the session so the young people had space to be together and enjoy their final moments as friends, and ultimately everyone came away feeling positive about the future.
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