We’re proud that Khulisa has been running our intensive group therapeutic programme, Face It, in schools for almost 10 years. To date we have supported over 3500 young people through our intensive therapeutic programmes, and a further 3,000 professionals through trauma informed training, including teachers, carers, parents, social workers and probation officers.
However, we are always looking to improve where we can, and know that evaluating our programme for the impact it can have on young people is crucial to understanding where we can make real change. As part of our ongoing evaluation of ‘what works’ in supporting young people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing, we are delighted to be running a video evaluation project with the young people who have been through our programme. Working with experts in this kind of evaluation, InsightShare, we will be centering young people’s voices in our evaluation process.
This provides young people who have recently completed Face It the opportunity to create a series of videos discussing the programme, and its impact on their learning and emotional development. Working with schools in Manchester and London, using the medium of film, young people will highlight the most significant change our programme is having, and the needs of young people at risk of exclusion.
Questions we will be asking throughout the evaluation:
- What skills and support do young people need to survive & thrive?
- What can be done to help more young people to learn these skills?
- What’s been the most significant change for you since you did Face It?
- What’s helped you to make that change?
- Would you suggest any adaptations to the programme? If so, what would these be?
We have recently started work on the project, filming the videos with our participants in a school we have been working in over the past year in Manchester. The young people producing the videos have been really engaged, and have enjoyed the opportunity to learn film-making skills, as well as to be able to share their stories.
The change in participants was noticeable throughout the day. Having started the process being so shy that she wouldn’t press record on the camera, by the end of the filming process, one of the participants developed enough confidence to direct two different videos, and to give orders to her peers.
The reviews are already looking positive, with one participant stating:
“The programme was good. Karl, Briony and Tasha were really helpful. We played games, did drawing and colouring and it really helped me. I wasn’t crying anymore. I was laughing. I felt joyful. I liked the programme. It was amazing.”
The project will culminate in the creation of two films, produced and edited by the young people involved. These will then be showcased at a series of screenings, which will take place at the schools and in the community.
Through the project, we are looking to increase our understanding of the needs of young people, and how to develop Khulisa’s programme, in three key areas:
- Empowerment: To empower the participants to tell their story, and be actively involved the process for evaluating our Face It programme.
- Capacity development: To help the participants develop their personal learning and other skills as a result of participation - for example relationship building, technical filmmaking skills, team work, decision making, and problem solving.
- Service improvements: To discover any changes that need to be made internally to our programme design, delivery or evaluation, in response to the participatory video project.
Finally, the video project will be accompanied by a detailed report into the Face It programme, to further help us with our evaluation of the programme. We look forward to sharing this with you later in the year.