Magic Me Annual Arts Projects

BASIC INFORMATION

Date of case study: April 2008

Local authority in which project is based: LB of Tower Hamlets

Date project started: 2004

Type of organisation: Charitable organization

Brief description

Founded in 1989, Magic Me is a specialist provider of intergenerational arts based projects in the East End of London. Its annual programme of activities brings together young people and older people for mutual benefit, learning and enjoyment. For the past five years Magic Me has worked with The Women’s Library, based at London Metropolitan University, and Mulberry School for Girls to deliver an annual arts project for young women and older women as part of the after-school programme. Project themes have included beauty and self image (‘Beauty?’ 2004), women’s relationship with the home (‘Spinning Plates’, 2005), campaigning on issues of concern (‘Heartfelt’, 2006), and women’s voices (‘Sound Tracks’, 2007). Participants share their learning with the wider community through various artforms including photographs, poetry, a soundtrack and calendars.

Collaboration

Magic Me is the lead partner, working in close collaboration with Mulberry School for Girls and The Women’s Library.

Funding

Magic Me has contributed approximately £3,000 in total over the past four years. Additional individual project costs were: Beauty? - £9,378; Spinning Plates - £11,600; Heartfelt - £9,000; and Sound Tracks - £6,255. Additional funding came from the St Katharine & Shadwell Trust, Awards for All, Lucas Tooth Fund, Women’s Library, Tower Hamlets Partnership and Mulberry School.

Staffing

Each project has been led by Sue Mayo, Magic Me Associate Artist, with Magic Me’s director providing overall supervision. Activities are led by professional artists employed by Magic Me on a freelance basis.

The Head of Creative Arts at Mulberry School and the Access and Education Officer at the Women’s Library are link workers for projects.

NATURE OF PROVISION

Which groups of people does the project work with?

Each project involves a group of up to 16 young and older women. The young members are year 10 students (aged 14-15) at Mulberry School for Girls, a community school based in East London, whose pupils are virtually all Muslim, of Bangladeshi origin. Older women (aged 50+) are drawn from the local Tower Hamlets community and include those of White British, Asian, Black African, Caribbean origins and Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths. The oldest participant was aged 91. Some projects have included older women with minor disabilities, mental health problems and hearing impairments.

How was the need for the project identified?

The original project (Beauty?) was designed to coincide with the Library’s preparations for an exhibition on beauty queens. The Library also wanted to increase community awareness of its work and involve more local residents.

Mulberry School was keen to develop more after-school activities and, following the success of the first project, committed to an annual project.

How do participants become involved? What, if any, commitment do you ask for from young volunteers?

Young women are recruited from the school’s performing arts department and also through word of mouth. Older women were initially recruited through previous Magic Me or library projects, a newspaper article and personal contact. However, participants now consist of women who return each year and those referred from local community groups.

Sessions take place after school (lasting one and a half hours), with full day workshops during school holidays. Participants are expected to attend regularly.

What are the main approaches and activities?

Individual projects focus on different themes, all of which use intergenerational work to promote learning, build relationships and challenge negative stereotypes. Each project begins with separate peer group sessions to allow participants to explore any apprehensions and discuss hopes and expectations. This is followed by a programme of structured and unstructured joint activities led by professional artists. Participants also have sessions on how to use the library to research their topics.

· Beauty?: a 10 week programme exploring beauty and self image, leading to a photographic exhibition and poetry performance at the Women’s Library.

• Spinning Plates: a 10 week programme exploring women’s relationship to the home though photographs and poems. These were made into a calendar, which was distributed to Magic Me networks or sold to help cover costs.
• Heartfelt: a programme taking place over eight weekly sessions and two full days using discussion and creative writing to explore ‘heartfelt’ issues that participants would campaign for and against. They then created images of the issues using 3D collage and 2D artwork which were photographed for display within the school and the library. Themes chosen by the group included ‘memories’, ‘friendship’, ‘war’, ‘faith’, ‘child poverty’, ‘Islam’ and ‘The family’. A ‘heartfelt’ calendar was also produced and distributed for free by the school.
• Sound Tracks – a four month project in which participants explored the sense and power of their own voices, using diaries in the Library archive. Workshops approaches included groupwork and informal discussion; creative writing and research; and developing skills using drama and imaginative exercises.  The group also created its own sound piece ‘My voice is the key to my freedom’, launched at the Library’s fifth birthday celebration (available on http://www.magicme.co.uk/).

How are participants involved in shaping the projects?

The chosen themes provide a starting point for each project, which the groups develop. Participants make artistic and thematic choices, and are involved in editing and preparing materials for the end product.

One older and three younger participants have joined Magic Me’s Ideas Group, an advisory body for the whole organisation.

How does the project respond to the needs of different people, particularly the most marginalised?

Projects focus on supporting participants to understand each others’ needs and value their skills and talents. On a practical level this is achieved through helping each other with tasks such as writing or reading, and artwork.

The Library provides a fully accessible venue. Transport is offered to participants on low incomes and those who are less mobile.

OUTCOMES OF WORK

Does the project contribute to the five Every Child Matters outcomes for young people?

Enjoy and achieve – through cultural and arts based activities promoting personal and social development

Making a positive contribution – opportunities to build positive relationships with older women through voluntary and community engagement.

What skills and knowledge do participants gain through their involvement in the project?

Participants gain a wide range of creative skills including writing, photography, performance and image making. ‘Soundtracks’ also provided opportunities to gain skills in interviewing, recording, editing and vocal performance. Participants also develop skills in research, speaking and listening, and evaluation. The Women’s Library has helped participants develop their awareness of gender issues and women’s history, for instance the importance of voting rights through material on the Suffragette movement.

How are participant’s progress and achievements measured and recorded?

All sessions include time for individual and group reflection. Individuals are encouraged to reflect on their own development, but do not set targets. Participants are presented with Magic Me certificates of project completion.

The school holds special assemblies to celebrate achievements and showcase artwork.

What has changed for participants, organisations or the wider community as a result of the project?

Projects provide individuals from both groups the chance to work with people from other cultural/ethnic groups that they would not normally meet. This has helped break down misconceptions across generations and communities with both groups showing a shift in perceptions by the end of projects. For isolated, older people, projects allow them to be more in touch with the wider community and build lasting friendships with other adults. Many show an increase in confidence as a result.

Some younger participants have become regular visitors to the Library and have taken part in summer activities.

Projects contribute towards the school’s range of positive activities as part of its after -school programme. As a dominantly mono-cultural school, it recognises the benefits to students of working with a diverse group of elders. The school uses project artwork as a stimulus for class work throughout the school.

Visitors to the library see work created by local young and older women, highlighting their, often invisible, viewpoints alongside the academic and historical ones.

MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS

How is the project evaluated?

Individual sessions are evaluated by the relevant lead worker, working with the group and co-artists. The project manager produces a report at the end of each project for funders and partners, and to document learning to feed into future work.

What are the findings of any evaluations to date?

• The school reports improved behaviour and concentration among those girls who had been showing challenging behaviour in school.
• Some participants lack confidence at the beginning of projects and are apprehensive about working with different age groups from different faiths.
• Some adult participants have problems attending consistently due to ill health and others have experienced anxiety once projects come to an end. This raises issues about appropriate support and contact during and after projects.

What developments have occurred as a result of evaluation?

• Magic Me is fundraising for a community development worker to provide support and continuity between the projects, particularly for older people.
• Project dates have moved to avoid the June exam period, which put too much pressure on the young women.

What has worked well and why?

• The Activity room at the Women’s Library is a comfortable and stimulating venue, providing a neutral meeting location.
• Producing calendars provides an excellent way of communicating the work of participants and Magic Me more widely and all year round.
• Providing refreshments during sessions allows time for more informal discussions among group members.
• Preparing exhibitions and performances to coincide with the library’s own exhibitions gives their work a wider audience.
• Projects give people a place to talk about their reactions and feelings to difficult issues in their community, eg. 7^th July bombings.
• Young women are able to share their aspirations and anxieties with older women outside their family.
• Attendance and presentations by the participants at Magic Me’s Annual General Meeting and Celebration

What has been difficult and why?

• Occasional problems with attendance and time keeping among the young women can disrupt the group and affect what individuals get out of it.
• A busy, animated group can be hard for some older people to work within.
• Group members have to be willing to work with people with many different accents, opinions and personalities, which they mostly do very well.
• Raising funds in time to give a good lead time to plan the next project has sometimes been a struggle.

PARTNERSHIP AND STRATEGIC IMPACT

What specific experience and expertise do you bring to partnership work?

Magic Me is a leading intergenerational arts provider in the UK. Professionals leading the projects are experienced in using the arts with diverse community groups and working with professionals from other sectors. A Continuing Professional Development programme for artists covers key issues such as dealing with conflict.

One artist has led all the projects, providing continuity and building relationships with partners and participants.

Has this partnership resulted in greater collaboration or increased understanding between partners?

The relationship with the Library has helped it improve access to its collections and increase use of its resources. he library has also recognised the practical needs of users, for instance providing a room near the entrance to avoid long walks for people with mobility problems.

A letter of agreement between all partners has been adapted and improved over the years and people stick to their commitments.

Have you experienced any particular difficulties in partnership working?

• Changes in staff at the Library have meant renegotiation of project arrangements. Financial difficulties at the Library have created some uncertainty over the years.
• Communication with school staff can be difficult during busy times.

Do you consider this project to be innovative?

Yes. Women only intergenerational work is unusual, as is cross generational work with such different cultural groups. The projects are designed to give participants a chance to ask the difficult questions they don’t have a place to discuss elsewhere, for instance about faith.

How do you disseminate the learning?

Projects are publicised in a range of ways, including displays at the library and school, sharing good practice through the Beth Johnson Foundation’s Centre for Intergenerational Practice, local press, Magic Me’s website and through conferences and training events.

Has the learning from this work influenced wider organisational strategies?

The need for a worker to provide continuity between time-limited projects has informed our planning.

What plans do you have to sustain/develop this work?

The annual projects will continue.

CONTACT

Susan Langford, Director, Magic Me, 18 Victoria Park Square, London E2 9PF.  Tel 020 3222 6064.  Website: http://www.magicme.co.uk/

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