REFLECT Lab, a professional development opportunity led by Helium for artists and healthcare professionals working with children in the North West, has been evaluated by Teresa Cawley on behalf of HSE West (Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, West Cavan).

In 2011, participants from the arts and health sectors in the North West came together for a year to engage in a co-mentoring relationship with a view to sharing skills and experience between the two sectors. A Train the Trainers programme ran alongside the main co-mentoring programme so that Irish arts organisations could learn the skills required to implement future co-mentoring projects. Through the REFLECT Lab programme, Helium hoped to advance the understanding of the mutual benefits of arts and health partnerships.

REFLECT Lab is a model of cross-sector co-mentoring devised and delivered by The Sage Gateshead, UK. REFLECT Lab trainers from The Sage Gateshead facilitated both the Train The Trainers Programme and the Irish cohort. The Sage Gateshead also provided mentoring to support Helium’s management role in the process.

The evaluation followed the methodology of the UK REFLECT Lab evaluation (2008) and made additions to it. It was conducted mainly through conversations with participants and stakeholders, through semi-structured interviews at key stages of the project and a questionnaire which was administered at the end of the project. This was supported by a case study and some personal reflections from participants.

Eleven artists and eleven healthcare providers (HCPs) commenced the programme in April 2011. Seven artists and seven HCPs completed the programme in March 2012. There were three development days organised over the course of a year. Train the trainers participated in separate training days as well as working in pairs to mentor each other in order to gain a deeper understanding of the programme.

Key outcomes from the evaluation:

• Artists have increased knowledge and understanding of healthcare contexts for children and young people
• Both artists and healthcare professionals have developed creative methods of dialogue and engagement with children and young people
• Both artists and HCPs have broadened their visions of arts practice with children and young people in healthcare contexts and have explored how they might work together in the future
• The need for Arts and Health programmes was reinforced for HCPs together with a realisation of how they currently use the arts in their work
• The programme has enhanced the network for artists and HCPs which impacts on the HSE as an organisation regarding increased awareness of arts in health leading to new creative perspectives
• A number of REFLECT Lab activities have been planned beyond the pilot including a seeding programme in which one co-mentoring pair from Donegal are developing a six-week pilot project to benefit the healthcare worker’s service
• Six trainers have been trained in facilitating REFLECT Lab programmes
• Two trainers are developing a new programme with early years in the South
• One artist is working on developing programmes for arts festivals in both Local Authority areas that support children with disabilities

Key recommendations based on programme objectives:

A supportive framework to oversee the delivery and secure continuity of the programme
• Close attention needs to be paid to matching co-mentoring pairs and matches should not be made unless they are suitable;
• As artists are self employed and participation was very much self-motivated, it is not possible to establish clear channels with line managers. The nature of the support they receive from the programme manager, in this case Helium Children’s Arts and Health, may need to be more clearly defined;
• The timeframe is specified at twelve to eighteen months for the Education Sector. This timeframe needs to be examined in relation to the Health sector and a shorter timeframe is advised;
• An additional development day between day 1 and 2 should be considered;
• Scoping of the administrative role is needed to ensure that sufficient, systematic support is provided to all participants between development days;
• Day one needs to ensure that co-mentors make plans to meet and commence developing their shared focus;
• Mandatory number of meetings between co-mentors which need to be in person.

Recruit and train co-mentors from arts and health sectors (working with children) in the North West to enable cross-sectoral learning
• Commitment of participants to be made explicit from outset (query a contract);
• Sufficient time to be given for the recruitment process;
• Clear presentation of what REFLECT Lab co-mentoring is including specifying and articulating its deliverables in all marketing to potential co-mentors and the stakeholders;
• More clarity on the outcomes of the programme provided to stakeholders at the outset;
• A commitment from senior stakeholders to attend presentations at outset of recruitment phase;
• Consider recruiting people within the health service who will have time to engage fully in the REFLECT Lab co-mentoring process.

Deliver and adapt the REFLECT Lab co-mentoring programme to Ireland and the Irish Health Sector and support the sustainability of the model and its mainstreaming in Arts and Health
• Address cultural differences of Ireland and the Arts and Health Sectors in Ireland to support establishing a common ground before initiating a further REFLECT Lab co-mentoring programme;
• Engage Performance and Development department of the HSE as a stakeholder in supporting the management and leading of the programme;
• The REFLECT Lab Handbook needs to be adapted for working within the healthcare context (education was the context in the UK) and be more bespoke with a healthcare process;
• Consider focusing the programme on a smaller geographic area to ensure that participants can meet;
• Further examination of which sections of the health sector have time to participate fully in a co-mentoring programme (e.g. Hospital staff did not have sufficient time).

The Executive Summary by Teresa Cawley on behalf of HSE West (Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, West Cavan) is available to download here: REFLECT Lab Evaluation – Executive Summary

REFLECT Lab is a model of cross-sector co-mentoring devised by The Sage Gateshead, UK. The 2011 REFLECT Lab cohort was led by Helium Children’s Arts and Health under the Arts Council of Ireland Local Partnership Scheme with Sligo County Council Arts Service, Donegal County Council Arts Office, HSE West (Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal), Letterkenny General Hospital, and Sligo General Hospital.

Story Dress, Helium’s storytelling and technology performance project for children in hospital debuted in April 2013 at a children’s hospital in Dublin. The project revolves around a uniquely designed interactive storytelling dress which has in-built lighting effects and an embedded soundscape, activating music and sound effects as artists Eléonore Nicolas and Fiona Dowling tell children stories on the wards.

Eléonore in the story dress before heading to the children's wards

Artist Eléonore Nicolas describes the effect the storytelling dress had on children, families and staff when she first arrived on the wards in April:

Everybody in the hospital stopped in their tracks to look at the dress. All the kids who heard the song got out of their beds and popped their head out of the door to see the dress and hear the sounds. It’s a brilliant way to get the audience’s attention and start a story, which is exactly why this project happened in the first place!!

The music made by Christophe Le Pu, which played every time I was in the corridor, before and after a story, helped to get the attention for sure. It even helped the magic to continue after a story was finished as a 3 year old girl told the nurse « I can still hear the magic girl » after I had walked around the corridor.

Not only did people stop, they also watched. Story time is often the moment for parents to make a phone call or get a cup of tea, but last Saturday, I could see intrigued parents staying to watch what was going to happen and so did the staff.

There was one particular time when I was telling a story about a little boy watering a plant. Everytime he pours water on the plant I activated the sound of water pouring from my dress. This sound is so sharp and crisp, as well as being beautiful and unexpected, that the whole room would stop to listen to the story. It is one of those moments when you feel that time has stopped, not just for the storyteller but for everyone in the room.

The dress was so popular that parents brought their child to see me and take photographs. Children were approaching me for a story instead of me going to them.

There was a little girl who saw me from the window and really wanted to find out more about the dress. I stood in front of her and played with the dress by triggering buttons for animal sounds and wondering with her where all these sounds could be coming from. The little girl could not speak but she gave me a huge big smile and that was worth more than a thousand words!

After a while, I started to feel more and more comfortable in the dress and played more with it. At some point, I asked a little boy to press the top of my hat. The sound of when Tinkerbell does a trick was triggered, I swirled 3 times and said that I just turned into a storyteller who came especially to tell him a story.

The first time with the storydress in the hospital felt like we had reached for the moon and landed right on it!

Story cubes

The artists not only want to create a memorable experience for children in hospital, they also want to encourage children’s creativity after their visit is finished. With this in mind, Eléonore and Fiona have devised storytelling cube props which are left with the children enabling them to invent entirely new stories in their own time.

Story Dress will continue as a rolling one-year hospital residency. You can follow the development of the Story Dress project @ http://storytellersnewgambit.wordpress.com/

Story Dress was made possible by the following people: artists Eléonore Nicolas and Fiona Dowling, dressmaker and design consultant Caitriona Ni Threasaigh, music and digital artists Mark Linnane & Fionnuala Conway. Story Dress went from dream to reality thanks to the wonderful people who funded it through the Helium Fund:It campaign.

Story Dress is currently supported by the Arts Council.

Going forward we are excited to see how we can give voice to the project and participants, both in the hospital and in the work produced by the artists!

Brian’s Treasure Chest, a local charity shop in Castle Street, Mullingar, will again be donating the proceeds of all sales to Helium between 1-6 July 2013.

If you have any pre-loved items you would like to recycle, please drop them into the shop from 24 June and be sure to mention Helium. Books, clothing, toys, small furniture, household goods, baby accessories, unused gifts and vouchers are all accepted in good condition. If you are a treasure hunter, stop by the shop between  1-6 July and you may find just what you are looking for! You’ll also be helping to support our art programmes which bring joy to children in hospital.

Thank you to Brian Fegan for selecting Helium again as one his charities. For more information on Brian’s fantastic initiative to support local charities, please see: http://bit.ly/sbEYwO

Hands On 2! A two-day conference and training event on Applied Puppetry

19^th and 20th of April 2013

London

Explore the world of puppetry in community, health, education and development/aid settings.

DAY 1 at Little Angel Theatre

Presentations and discussions, including key note speaker (Tim Prentki, University of Winchester, specialist in Theatre for Development) and guest presenters. The day culminates in networking and seeing Little Angel Youth Theatre’s production of Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis”.

Day 2 at CSSD

5 day-long workshops for you to explore applied puppetry in more depth. More information on the Little Angel Theatre website.

Hands On 2 is perfect for all people who are curious about using puppetry in community and education settings e.g. teachers and health service providers; aid workers; puppetry practitioners; academics interested in applied puppetry.

Bookings: 00 44 207 226 1787 For more information please look on www.littleangeltheatre.com

Supported by University of Portsmouth

Dates: 19^th and 20th of April 2013

Location & Times:

Friday: 10.00 am – 7.15 pm

Little Angel Theatre, 14 Dagmar Passage, London, N1 2DN.

Saturday: 10.00 am – 5.00 pm

Central Schoolof Speech & Drama, Eton Avenue, London NW3 3HY

Fee for 2-days:

£95 full price

£55 Registered students, Registered Disabled, OAP’s and those claiming income support (limited number of concessionary tickets available)

(Refreshments and lunch and performance ticket are included in the price)

Fee for 1 days:

£55 full price and conc

Ticket is for both days. No single day tickets available.

(Refreshments and lunch and materiels are included in the price)

Siobhan Clancy’s Workshop Details

Get Better Soon; Puppetry and Performance Skills for Healthcare Settings

This hands-on workshop offers participants the chance to explore the merits of working through puppetry to creatively engage patients/clients in healthcare settings. The agenda will include

• Tips for accessibility and hygiene
• Puppet-making and story-telling/reminiscence techniques for all levels of age, ability and experience
• Facilitating performance development through fun exercises focused towards creative expression and empowerment
• Planning and evaluation methodologies

The workshop will involve some groupwork. Participants will leave with a puppet of your own and a set of practical resources for puppet-making and performance.

Siobhán Clancy’s participatory practice explores models of socialization that impact on individual wellbeing in contexts of community health, disability, education and young people.  Outcomes are disseminated online, presented as performance and embedded in event-based programmes to facilitate active engagement of the audience.  In the past, her work has been supported through the AIC Scheme by The Arts Council and managed by Create (2009) and also by Dublin City Council Arts Act Grant (2010). She has been awarded residencies with ‘Art at Work’ (2010), Helium Children’s Arts in Health (2009-2011) and Disposable Film Festival, USA (2012).  Clancy is currently studying an MA in Community Education, Equality and Social Activism at NUIM. See also www.siobhanclancy.com

Helium is now seeking a highly motivated, versatile individual to take up the role of Fundraising Officer. This is a nine month position and is open to those eligible for a JobBridge Internship. The successful candidate will work 30 hours per week between the Mullingar office and working online from home. Working hours are flexible. The Intern will work alongside Helium’s management team, which collaborates online.

Internship Description

The successful candidate will support the Artistic Director to carry out a number of fundraising development tasks, with main responsibility to research and collate information on potential new funders, sponsors, patrons, etc to support the company’s programmes. There is also an opportunity for the Intern to design and produce their own local fundraising event or small campaign (online or offline or a combination of both) if they so desire. A small library of fundraising guides will be available to the Intern, with time to absorb methods for best practice. Helium will endeavor to alert the Intern to any out of office training opportunities, as they arise, which the Intern is welcome to attend during working hours.

Appointment Procedure:

To insure that you are eligible for a JobBridge Internship please go to : http://www.jobbridge.ie/InternEligible.aspx

Please email info@helium.ie to request a full job description.

The closing date for receipt of applications is:

Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 5pm.

Shortlisted candidates will be requested to attend an interview in Mullingar on Wednesday, May 22nd.

Helium is hosting an early years consultation in Mullingar on January 23rd to establish the potential for a sustainable early years arts programme in the Westmeath/Longford region to be led by Helium. This consultation will be attended by stakeholders from the arts, child health and family services, and community support organisations. The purpose of the programme is to benefit babies and toddlers and their parents using the arts, with a professional development element for artists and staff.

Helium aims to design a sustainable programme in partnership with local organisations that will have the following objectives:
• arts driven
• emphasis on health and social benefits
• builds capacity and includes personal and professional development
• fulfills unmet needs of parents and very young children in the Midlands area.

This consultation phase is funded by the Arts Council and supported by Westmeath County Council Arts Office.

Helium is based in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath. Since 2008, we have co-ordinated early years projects throughout Ireland. One of these projects, Infant Imaginings, has brought creative play to children aged 0-3 during Child Development Clinics in local health centres and to Parents and Toddlers Groups. Infant Imaginings aims to promote relaxation, communication and learning between babies, toddlers and their parents through music, performance, puppetry and the visual arts.

Helium’s Professional Development Programme offers training and support to artists and healthcare staff who wish to engage in early years practice. In 2012, Helium held a 2-day seminar and workshop programme called Creative Connections with speakers and artists from across Europe contributing. Documentation from Creative Connections can be viewed here.