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A person sits at a desk drawing on a tablet computer with a stylus pen.

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Last chance to enter The Why Not? Trust’s digital showcase

Posted 18.10.23 by Alice Hinds

art care experienced people care system digital

The Why Not? Trust is seeking artwork from parents with care experience, which will be shared through a “digital showcase” on social media.

From poems and paintings to videos, scripts, TikToks, sculptures and photographs, all mediums are welcome, but each artwork must explore the issues, questions, themes and emotions that surround what it is like to become a parent as an individual with care experience.

Entries, which can remain anonymous, will be shared on The Why Not? Trust’s social media platforms throughout Care Experienced Week, which takes place from 22-29 October 2023, and the Trust will also create a dedicated space for artwork submissions on its online hub.

Promoting the importance of relationships across the care-experienced community, The Why Not? Trust says the digital showcase will connect entrants with changemakers, highlighting their messages in their own words.

Submissions made by Thursday 19 October will be entered into a draw to win one of two £25 gift vouchers, and while entries made after this date won’t be considered for the prize, they may still be shared with The Why Not? Trust’s online audience.

For more information and to submit artwork, click here for the entry form

 Alternatively, entrants can contact Aimee: aimee.thorpe-mundt@whynottrust.org

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A street mural take shape on a building wall, a bus driving past in the foreground
The mural at Cathedral St, Glasgow

Magazine /

Unique initiative unites care experienced young people through street art

Posted 13.07.23 by Alice Hinds

art care care experienced people creativity

Five bold and inspiring new murals will soon be on display at locations across Scotland as work on the next phase of an exciting “artivism” project brings together care experienced young people through artwork.

Led by organisation The Articulate Cultural Trust, the nationwide Artivism (Art + Activism): The Gable End Edition project centres around the creation of murals in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Kilmarnock, Dundee and Aberdeen, with each one designed to explore and illustrate our “shifting social and cultural landscape” through the eyes of inspiring young people.

A graffiti artist works on a new outdoor mural

Artist Frank Carty

Two murals have already been completed in Kilmarnock and Dundee, and work is now underway at the University of Strathclyde campus, where artists Frank, Mandy and Skye Carty ­– known collectively as Artisan Artworks – will create a hand-painted scene that visually references different periods in history that saw social changes, informed by young people supported by Articulate.

Once complete, it is hoped the Cathedral Street artwork will become a feature of the popular Glasgow Mural Trail (click here for more).

Frank Carty said: “Working with the young people from Articulate has been amazing for me. I’ve worked with them for 18 months and seeing them learn and develop their artistic flare is inspiring. Sign-writing is my family business and sharing some of what we do and approach with the young people is incredible. The challenges they face are harsh and it’s humbling to see their passion and hard work emerging into this large-scale work.”

Supporting marginalised children, young people and families to access and benefit from the arts and culture, Articulate finds ways for people to express themselves in positive ways, while also gaining skills and experience that support positive wellbeing, destinations and learning outcomes, reflecting Article 31 of the UNCRC, the right to create and play.

Laura Frood, producer and The Gable End Edition project lead for Articulate, said: “We are thrilled to have completed two of the five murals and see the commentary across the Scottish towns and cities beginning to take shape. The young people have approached the opportunity with maturity, curiosity and a sense of fun. We know that individually and collectively the murals will help communities think differently about the skills, talents, interests and aspirations of care experienced young Scots.”

All five outdoor artworks are due to be completed by 2024, after which a digital mural trail will be available online alongside images and videos that explain the ethos behind the project.

For more information, click here to visit the ACT website: www.articulatehub.com

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Photo. Three primary school-aged children stand holding Read, Write, Count bags in front of a school mural.

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News: Scottish Book Trust invites youngsters to design new Read, Write, Count bag

Posted 17 Jan, 2023 by Jennifer Drummond

art environment literacy reading

Pupils in Primary 1-Primary 3 are invited to submit a design for the new Read, Write, Count bags as part of an exciting art competition run by the literacy charity.

Each year, Scottish Book Trust distributes more  than 120,000 bags of books and fun learning materials to every P2 and P3 child in Scotland.

The 2023 bags will be fully recyclable, made from 40% recycled materials and produced in a factory that uses 100% renewable energy.

To celebrate these new bags, children from P1-P3 are invited to submit a design that represents looking after and loving the planet. Entries will be judged by an expert panel including bestselling author and illustrator Vivian French.

The winning design will be printed on all new Read, Write, Count bags gifted during Book Week Scotland in November.

The winner will also receive an artist’s goodie bag and their class will receive a book donation for their library. The second and third placed entries will also win a selection of books for their school.

Entries can be submitted by teachers or parents/carers, and must be received by Thursday 23 February.  The winner will be revealed in March.

Click here for more details on where and how to submit your entry, as well as submission guidelines

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Man reading a large exhibition board

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News: Change Up exhibition considers action to address coercive control in teen relationships

Posted 8 December, 2021 by Jennifer Drummond. Image: Change Up exhibition. Supplied by Dartington Service Design Lab.

art children and young people gender based violence

A new exhibition showcases youth-led designs for innovations aimed at promoting positive relationships in adolescence and supporting positive wellbeing.

The Change Up exhibition is the result of work done by youth organisations across Renfrewshire to better understand young people’s views, reflections and responses about coercive control, anxiety and depression.

It is part of the Early Action Systems Change initiative, led by Dartington Service Design Lab along with Renfrewshire Council, Renfrewshire Health & Social Care Partnership, Engage Renfrewshire and partners from across the voluntary sector.

Working together since 2018, the Early Action System Change initiative has been focused on promoting healthy adolescent relationships, including understanding, and reducing, coercive control, and promoting positive wellbeing.

The initiative, funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, was developed following research in 2017 with more than 10,000 young people in the Renfrewshire community that revealed:

  • Of the 3,058 young people who have been in a relationship, one in four reported concerning levels of coercive control
  • One in ten people met the threshold for a likely clinical diagnosis of anxiety and depression
  • One in five children met the threshold for ‘high need’, but only a small percentage were receiving service support.

The Change Up exhibition features innovations designed by and for young people and system leader over the past year to tackle these issues.

From training packs for teachers on how to respond to the disclosure of an abusive relationship, to resources for young people on how to recognise the signs of coerceive control, the intention is to better educate and empower young people, and adults, to take appropriate action.

Dr Catherine-Rose Stocks-Rankin, Dartington Service Design Lab Scotland Director Designate, said:

"Working with a wide range of partners has allowed us to address the same issue from different perspectives. In this project we have put the perspectives of young people and youth workers front and centre, and then worked across the third sector and public sector social work, education and health to share learning.

"By collaboratively working together, we’ve co-designed valuable resources that make real change.

"This is what it takes to make system change happen – everyone needs to be involved in taking action. And we must put the voice of people with living experience at the heart of what we do.”

The exhibition has been timed to open during 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, the annual international campaign organised by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership.

The Change Up Exhibition will run between 8-10 December, 2021 at YMCA Paisley.

Click here to read more about the Change Up project

Click here to read more about the Early Action System Change initiative

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