Summer Holiday Activities

The sessions at Wesley Hall have been going really well with the adults. Of course, now that the Summer Holidays are in full swing, the workers are occasionally looking a bit 'frazzled' to say the least, as there are hordes of children to entertain.

The Families Worker asked me if there was anything I could do to help occupy the older children for the remainder of the holidays, so I was happy to oblige... So, armed with a basic plan of games and drama exercises connected with the sea (a relevant theme-they were planning a trip to the seaside!) I arrived to find a room full of children, happily colouring cards and pictures. I felt awful asking them to move everything around and come away from such a calm exercise, but I'd travelled by train and taxi from Manchester (quite expensive!) and rushed to be there on time, so I was determined to do something!

There was a real sense of excitement as we began some simple games to warm up and get everyone working together. When I later asked for volunteers to help carry an imaginary treasure chest across the room, several hands shot up - even the older boys - then, when I asked who had the key, even more people wanted to join in the game of 'make-believe'.

As the session progressed, a few of the parents wandered in from the next room to see what was happening and ended up staying to join in, calling out suggestions and getting quite involved!

Towards the end, crowding around the juice, biscuits and fruit, I asked if they were enjoying the workshop and if they would like to do any more and one of the girls' memorable reply was: "Yes! A thousand, thousand more..."

So all the rushing and taxi fare was worth it. They want me back again this Thursday.

Exodus Festival and SEMA Summer Project

Well, it's been busy again since I last posted - so that's why it's taken so long!

The Exodus Festival was a good experience, because it was a totally different way of working. I would normally work with a large group, trying to energise them, get them to know each other and warm up before we did a practical session. However, on 2nd August, I was there as a support for Mok Bukuakow, our 'PlAAy' Residency artist, helping with any language needs, as well as filling in monitoring and feedback forms, so I was able to observe. We only had three people at a time for our session, sitting opposite us and talking about childhood toys, then drawing and /or making them out of clay. It was a much quieter, more reflective experience than my drama workshops. There were some similarities in that I was able, by gentle questioning, to encourage people to speak and become more confident. People (especially young people and adults) are constantly worried that their stories are not interesting enough, but, after showing a genuine interest in description, memory, etc, they began to enjoy talking, sketching and modelling. The younger children tended to be much more open, enjoying the experience of the modelling, although one or two didn't like the wet feel and the residue it left on their hands.

The SEMA Summer Project was a complete contrast; older Primary and lower Secondary School pupils who come from refugee /asylum seeking families are given learning support via SEMA. This year, a two day project was provided for those who were able to attend, with activities such as drumming, art and craft, surveys and two drama sessions from Action Factory, through me. As they were fairly short sessions, we had to use fairly simple techniques - improvisation and physical creation of objects and stories. The end results were really creative, though. We had a story about a washing machine that used all the river and drained the forest and how this was solved; a magical bird who brought a king back to life and a group who had to overcome amazing obstacles to reach a party in a palace.

Language barriers were occasionally an issue, but the good humour of the group and sensitivity of the workers helped overcome this and there was a really positive reaction to the work. I am keen to extend work with this group in the future, involving other art forms as well as drama.

Photo Mok Buakaow and participant.