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The Make (Good) Trouble team has just finished making a film about the amazing social prescribing pilot programme in East Sussex, which you can watch below.

Created for East Sussex County Council and NHS Sussex, the film tells the stories of children, families and professionals involved in the pilot.

Social prescribing is a non-medical approach to mental health and wellbeing. “It offers time, space and a supported personalised approach to explore what matters to individuals, and to help support them as quickly and easily as possible.” (National Children’s Bureaux).

The programme used social prescribing and positive activities – like cooking classes, physical activities, and getting out in nature – to support children’s mental health and emotional wellbeing. We could see how much it transformed young people’s lives.

As one parent said in the film: “She’s blossoming at school now. It’s put in [place] a lot of strategies that that they’re still using. If you’re honest with them and you tell them everything, they’ll help. We’re living proof of that … people need to hear the good things that they do. There’s not enough people shouting – they need to shout from the rooftops about it.”

Big thanks to Luke Lebihan and Grace Bagwell for their brilliant work on this film.

Find out more about NHS Sussex’s social prescribing plan.

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Orchids, Poo Sprinkles and Us…

That’s the name of one of the podcasts created by work experience students detailing their experiences of their placement week at the glorious botanic garden, Wakehurst, in Sussex, part of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. So if you’re interested in finding out what poo sprinkles are, give them a listen (below)!

They created the podcasts on the final day of their placement with Make (Good) Trouble. Our one-day workshop is designed to help young people to make sense of their work placements, articulate what they’ve learnt, and sharpen their communication, and listening skills. It also helps them to prepare for future job interviews. 

We were invited to devise and deliver a workshop that encourages young people to think about all the things they have learnt on their placement, and to disseminate that into a podcast and written piece for their CV. We also included training in interview techniques and how to use audio recording equipment, which they loved! The groups recorded interviews with each other, describing their week, as well as sound effects from the gardens to help build an aural picture of their experiences.  

The result is two amazing podcasts. We could hear how they had thrived at Wakehurst, working in different areas of the organisation – from marketing, education, and horticulture to the Millennium Seed Bank and the Visitor Centre. (It’s something I’d have loved to have the opportunity to do when I was younger!)

“You’ll definitely enjoy this experience if you’re interested in conserving nature and protecting the planet, because it makes you feel that you’re actually making a difference.”

“My top tips for the next person doing the Horticulture Department would be – just be prepared. You will not want to leave. At least I have not been wanting to leave. And I really want to come back here and volunteer and possibly get a job later on.”

So grab a coffee and listen to the brilliant work of these young people. 


👋 If you’re interested in us augmenting your organisation’s work placements with a Make (Good) Trouble workshop, let us know!

🌳 Wakehurst work placements are open to young people aged 14-18. Contact wakehurstworkexperience@kew.org for information on how to apply.

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First up, a quick plug for two amazing workshops we’re running next week. 

We’ll be at Rye Nature Reserve for our Catalyst arts programme. If you work with care-experienced young people aged 12-16, we have a fabulous free nature-based art workshop at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve next Wed and Thurs 11am – 3pm. Parents/Carers can register here.

We’ll also be heading to the South Downs National Park with the amazing folk from Dragon Drama for 3 days of woodland drama! There are still a few places left. If you know anyone who fits the bill (aged 11-15, in receipt of free school meals in East Sussex) and would like to join us, send them this link. It’s also free!

In the news…

There have been plenty of reports out this month detailing the rising mental health needs of young people. There’s news that the effects of the Covid pandemic have hit all age groups hard in terms of physical and mental ill health, and for young people it’s meant developmental milestones being missed. 

 The Children’s Commissioner for England has published statistics that show over a quarter of a million young people are still waiting for mental health support after being referred to Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Among the recommendations, the report calls for “Support for children who do not reach the threshold for CAMHS, including through Early Support Hubs, Mental Health Support Teams, from school counsellors”. 

In our work we’ve seen systemic problems for young people as a result of the pandemic, delayed access to mental health services, worries about the future, and the cost-of-living crisis. 

We have been working with young people who have received early support through social prescribing, which for many has been life changing. It’s a low cost early intervention that has been shown to make a real difference. Social prescribers offer one-to-one family support, activities for young people that help them to reconnect with peers, overcome anxiety and reduce time spent away from school and the classroom.  

What we’re doing to make a difference

We’re currently working on developing new ways to help young people, creating a supportive framework that will not only help with their wellbeing but also give them confidence, resilience, and new skills in critical thinking and communication. 

Part of that plan has been to develop interview techniques and podcast production training for young people. We’ve worked with YMCA and Save the Children this past month delivering training, listening to young people and – importantly – helping them to listen to each other’s stories. For Save the Children we worked with Priority 15-4 on the creation of a youth panel from different schools that represent rural and coastal communities and explored themes of education, mental health, money and housing. Their candid conversations and honest opinions help to form the foundations of the next phase of the project, a co-created campaign where they develop their skills to become active community organisers.  

By developing fun and immersive workshops – that are the least like a classroom setting – young people are given free rein to be creative, use their imagination and develop storytelling skills. Our team helps them to produce their own podcast and they learn how to interview each other about serious issues while also including enjoyable and amusing topics (see photo at the top of this newsletter!). The best thing we can achieve from a workshop is to make a child feel valued, heard and to make sure they are having a great time.

If you’re interested in working or collaborating with us, or funding our new initiatives, you can find out more here.

If you or your young person needs support, we have lots of great resources on our website in the Help & advice section.


👋 Do share this blog with anyone you think might find it useful. Thanks! 
 
We hope you enjoy Make (Good) News. If you have any suggestions or news you think we should cover next month, send us a line! 

The Make (Good) Trouble team x

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The Rez is an exciting collaboration between academics at the University of Sussex, Make (Good) Trouble and Arts Council England. It is a sci-fi podcast adventure for 7–11-year-olds told through a comic book and a game-based website, designed to help young people prepare to negotiate emotional difficulties and stresses. The Rez is created by recent UK Comic Laureate Hannah Berry, alongside a team of writers and psychologists. 

Make (Good) Trouble was engaged to produce content to raise awareness of The Rez, including a Key Stage 2 lesson pack, Quality Assured by the PSHE Association, which has now been updated to include alternative options for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Over 1.5 million children have special educational needs, according to government statistics – an increase of 87,000 on 2022. 

Teaching about kindness supports pupils with SEND in meeting learning outcomes around ‘Self Awareness’, as outlined in the PSHE Association’s Planning Framework, and helps teachers to cover statutory content about ‘Caring friendships’ from the Department for Education’s RSHE guidance. You can find more about teaching safe and effective PSHE education for pupils with SEND on the PSHE Association’s website. There’s also a super-useful teacher’s handbook for embedding inclusive practice around SEND in schools.

We felt it was important for to work with the University of Sussex and the PSHE Association to develop guides and lesson plans that include pupils with SEND. We work with a lot of young people who have additional needs, and it’s great to offer more practical support and visually engaging content to enhance their experience in the classroom.

“We were delighted to work with The Rez and Make (Good) Trouble on this project. The story and bright visual aspects of these lesson plans will help teachers appeal to pupils’ imagination throughout and help them to explore the topic of kindness a fun and engaging way.” 
 Liz Laming, Senior Subject Specialist, PSHE Association.

“Working with Make (Good) Trouble to develop lesson plans for our PSHE Association-accredited adolescent well-being project has made all the difference to our outreach. It has literally opened the doors to hundreds of schools for us. This means potentially thousands of students are being resourced to support their own mental health and to have healthier media diets. Our impact would have been a fraction of what it is without Make (Good) Trouble. We are working with them on a second set of lesson plans and look forward to working with them on new projects we are developing. They are great!” 
Martin Spinelli, Professor of Podcast at the University of Sussex and Director of Rezilience Ltd.

Get in touch if you’d like us to support you with the development and distribution of PSHE education lessons.

👉 Download the lesson plans here!

👉 jointherez.com