Creative Kin film premieres in Kinship Care Week

18 March 2019

To kick off Scotland’s Kinship Care Week (w/b 18th March 2019) we’re delighted to launch a new film celebrating the positive impact of Creative Kin, a two-year pilot delivered in partnership with Children 1st offering artist-led, creative respite for kinship families.

Creative Kin 2019 (Short, captioned) from Starcatchers on Vimeo.

Watch the full length film here.

Since 2017, kinship carers in North Ayrshire and Moray and the children they care for have explored music, film, visual art, drama and other creative activities together in weekly sessions. The artist-led programme of activities are designed to help strengthen family bonds and improve wellbeing.

The film will be premiered at three events for kinship carers in Inverness, Hamilton and Stirling during Kinship Care Week.

Delivered in partnership with Children 1st, Scotland’s national children’s charity, Creative Kin is funded by the Scottish Government’s Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention Project Fund.

Mary Glasgow, CEO of Children 1st, said: “The Creative Kin pilot shows how powerful the arts can be in supporting families to strengthen their connections and improve their relationships.

“Kinship care families are often formed at a point of crisis. They may be feeling sadness, upset and disruption – all of which creates additional pressures. Having the opportunity to step away from their daily concerns and create together has been transformational for both children and carers.

“Through Creative Kin we’ve seen some real magic happen in families. At Children 1st we’re hoping this is something we can build on so that all our work taps into the power of the arts to strengthen family relationships and support children to recover from trauma.”

Rhona Matheson, CEO of Starcatchers, said: “We’ve loved working with Children 1st on this project and, overwhelmingly, have seen it offer really positive experiences for the families.

“There’s been lots of challenges in finding the right way of working for the context the families are in, and the different communities they are part of. But both the artists and Children 1st staff have risen to the challenge and the collaboration has been fantastic.”