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Insider Solutions
Case Studies 2004 - Fab Pad
Fab Pad is an interior design project for homeless young people in Glasgow run by Impact Arts. It aims to improve people's employability through creativity, by recognising that a secure and stable home environment is an essential platform to addressing other labour market barriers.
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Participant's Hallway Before
Established in 1994, Impact Arts works in partnership with a variety of community groups, schools, housing associations and funding agencies. Together they develop and deliver tailored projects using art, dance, drama, music, photography and multi - media.
The aims of the organisation are:
Fab Pad was set up in 1998 by Impact Arts as an innovative youth housing project, working with the most vulnerable young people in Glasgow. It is a tailored project focussing specifically on an individual young person's needs at a vital stage in their progression out of a chaotic lifestyle - when he or she starts a new tenancy. Susan White-Aktemel, Director of Impact Arts, developed the idea through working on arts projects with homeless young people. She realised that young people would benefit enormously from creative input into making the new flat they had been given into their home, at the beginning of a much awaited new tenancy, and that this kind of intensive and individual support was not really available elsewhere. She said at the launch of the project: "There is a terrible need for this. If it's going to take six months for the council to plaster a wall, then it's better to train young people the basics themselves. It's about stepping back and saying, 'That was a good day's work and I'm pleased with it'". Sorting out your home can be the first step to sorting out the rest of your life! Scottish Enterprise New Futures Fund, Communities Scotland, Glasgow City Council, with in kind support from B&Q, Martin Plant Hire and various housing associations. What partnerships have been developed? Partnerships were developed for 2002-2003 with East Ayrshire, Inverclyde and East Dunbartonshire Councils, and Impact Arts are actively working with SIPs, council departments and a variety of voluntary sector youth and homeless initiatives within Glasgow. It is key that partnerships are maintained at two levels - with youth housing referral agencies to ensure that young tenants continue to find out about the project, and at a strategic level with departmental heads to develop active commitment (both financial and endorsement), to ensure the long term life of Fab Pad. Budget: Where do the participants come from? "It's good for depression" Since 1999, over 350 young people have been engaged in the project. Over 70% of these are female. The ages range from 16 to 34, but the majority (66 %) are between 18 and 24 years old, 78% are single. A significant number of participants were Asian, indicating a relatively good penetration of the ethnic minority community The project has successfully accessed and supported a particularly vulnerable group of young people. Amongst participants the major barrier to securing work is homelessness, but project staff realise this is very often combined with other issues; for example approaching 70% are estimated to be recovering drug addicts or alcoholics, whilst around 30% have mental health problems The major sources of referral into the project are from hostels, housing agencies and the health services. Direct referrals from the Social Work Department and Council Housing departments are disappointingly low, and Impact Arts is working to address that. Structure of Project The project is supported by an ever-growing staff team: three interior designers and six artists work across the various projects, supported by the company director and an administrative assistant. Only one of these posts is dedicated full time to the project, the designers and artists are employed in a freelance, sessional capacity (all be it one-two days per week), and the Director oversees all Impact Arts' activities. The success of the project with this particular client group depends largely on the ability to deliver quality work with a flexible approach. It is important that the stages of the project respond to the individuals involved. The elements of the programme are:
"It's got me thinking about what I want to do - I'm looking at New Deal, and art training courses at college" Project activities The interior design team work closely with the young person to develop a plan for their flat which is achievable (and allowed by the landlord) and which the young person leads on. The resulting workshops are therefore varied and include:
Participant's Living Room After "Things initially have to be achievable e.g. creating a mosaic mirror; people want to see results quickly when they join the project. Later they can move on to larger and more challenging tasks at their own pace."
Impact Arts is flexible about how long young people work with them - this is driven by the young persons need. For some the project lasts for approx six to nine months, others require longer support; Impact Arts are able to accommodate this. Generally they have contact with a participant for 12 months. As well as running workshops for the Glasgow project at the Impact Arts central base in Dennistoun, the team are happy to work with young people in their own areas; as a result of external evaluation last year Impact Arts has established satellite projects in Drumchapel and Pollok. Fab Pad taster courses are also offered for young people in supported accommodation to help them prepare for a tenancy, and introduce them to the project at an early stage. How does it support people into employment? Fab Pad has a clear focus on enabling participants to progress onto other opportunities: jobs, college or training. The Fab Pad team have extensive experience in working with vulnerable and unemployed young people. They establish an ongoing relationship with the participants from the beginning and support them by developing an informal action plan, helping them access job and training information and provide job search support as needed. What inductions are there for Artists/workers on the project? The inductions are carried out by the lead interior designer. Following this a new artist/ designer spends time shadowing someone who has been working on the project longer. Impact Arts has developed a training programme for artists working on Fab Pad, to ensure that as the project expands the standards of delivery are consistently high. The artists designers always work/ visit the young people in pairs. Youth work skills are highly recognised by Impact Arts with the current staff having a variety of backgrounds including: community development, community arts, and media and marketing. "It is very important that the designers/ artists are the right people for the job as this group of young people can be extremely vulnerable, it is just as important that they have the right social skills as good arts skills." How is it monitored/evaluated? A whole range of methods are applied to gauge how the project is progressing. Impact Arts applies its own internal monitoring systems, which include weekly workshop reports and regular team meetings. Work is done to evaluate the effectiveness of the project with individuals through New Futures Fund systems which include "baseline" recording and tracking once a participant has left the project. Finally, for the Glasgow project, an external organisation appointed by Scottish Enterprise evaluated the project on an annual basis. Responding to changing circumstances is key to the success of Fab Pad, so all of the above elements are vital - if things are going well in one area, this can be applied across the projects - equally if things are not quite working, this can be quickly addressed and changed. The figures below are an indication of the 'positive outcomes' Fab Pad Glasgow achieved in the 18 months from April 2001 to Sept 2002. The actual figures are probably greater, but difficulty in keeping in touch with participants once they leave prevents a completely accurate picture. 'Tracking' is a recognised problem for all agencies working on a citywide basis, and is much easier when a project is run locally.
Therefore 56.5% the participants progressed onto other opportunities. All of these also maintained their tenancy or moved to a 'better tenancy'. There a number of areas where Fab Pad has an extremely positive impact on participants lives and which contribute to employability. These are:
All of this prepares the participant directly or indirectly to progress on to the next stage in their life and take them closer to becoming active citizens. In short, by enabling them to getting their house in order, literally, they are able to think about what they are going to do next. What are the future developments? "It's opened a new world for me - I've now started an art class at the unemployed resource centre." Impact Arts has ambitious plans in progress to develop and establish the project in other parts of Glasgow and the country, as well as integrate the project further with other related projects. This year Fab Pad satellite projects will be established in Easterhouse and Govan, and Impact Arts plans to develop pilot projects in North Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire. There are also early discussions about setting up Fab Pad in Edinburgh. An "Arts and Employability Centre" is also being developed within Impact Arts' new premises, "The Factory". Two key projects which are central to the programme for the coming years are Artworks, the environmental arts programme and Home, a creative furniture recycling project. The intention of linking the projects is to help people to progress within Impact arts from the Fab Pad programme into other projects, offering volunteering and possibly employment opportunities, building on the skills and self belief gained through Fab Pad. "It came at a really good time for me and I have told a lot of my pals at Phoenix who are getting ready to get a flat" |
Innovation
Impact Arts is a dynamic community arts company committed to involving people of all ages and abilities in innovative and arts-based activities.
Basic wall preparation
Fab Pad runs a weekly workshop programme, with one-to-one visits with the designers arranged, as they are needed. The young people usually establish a pattern of attendance at workshops very quickly, but those who do not wish to participate regularly, and who want to drop in and out as they need help and advice are supported. Also, some of the young people do lose contact with Impact Arts when they have other more pressing issues to deal with in their lives, so they are supported to get back in touch when they are ready. Many of them do.