Creative Progression
A programme of arts activity for adults at risk of homelessness in
Newcastle upon Tyne
Overview
Creative Progression is an ongoing programme of arts activities targeted at adults who
are homeless (or at risk of homelessness) and have mental health issues in Newcastle
upon Tyne. Through an initial two year programme of high quality creative activities, the
project will allow people accessing the project opportunities to explore what ‘progression’
means for them and help them to make steps along their journey.
Programme Aims
The key aims of the Creative Progression project are to:
 Provide sustainable opportunities for homeless adults (or adults at risk of
homelessness) to take part in high quality arts activities.
 Enable homeless adults to explore what progression means for them in a creative
way.
 Provide a safe environment that will allow them to challenge and disrupt limiting
personal and collective identities.
 Help participants develop new skills and interests.
 If appropriate, to help participants to progress onto further creative activity by enabling
them to produce individual portfolios of work and/or documentation of involvement
which can be used by the participants to access progression routes.
 Support participants to access help from different agencies in order to achieve
progression in their lives.
The programme will achieve these in four ways:
1. Engagement
This programme offers a means to engage people who might be otherwise wary of
getting involved with learning or training, either due to previous poor experiences or a
lack of confidence in their own prospects. It builds on participants’ prior creative
experiences and interests, and offers the potential to try exciting and fun new activity.
2. Understanding what progression means for them - Broadening horizons and
raising ambition
Many of the issues that keep people at a distance from the labour market are
associated with personal and community identity – e.g. people’s perception of their
own abilities, how they think about and relate to other people, the limits of their world
in their own minds. This programme will enable people to:
 Try new things, and go to new places
 Meet new types of people
 See the world differently
 Create new stories about yourself
 Find their voice and communicate their strengths more effectively to others
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3. Developing New (Creative) Skills
This programme will enable participants to develop new skills, both in terms of the
creative skills associated with the art form they are working in, but also basic
employability skills around:
 Literacy and numeracy
 IT use
 Communication and relating to the others
 Negotiating and team working
4. Offering Progression Routes
The purpose of this programme is to help participants explore what progression
means for them, and so there are likely to be many different types of individual
achievement which represent progression in that person’s life. These could include:
 Achieving a more settled housing situation
 Stabilising their family situation – e.g. improving relationship with partners or
access to children
 A reduction in drug or alcohol consumption
 Regular attendance at support services or formal training
However, there are specific types of progression which this project will enable
participants to consider, and which the project will actively promote:
 Regular attendance at creative sessions to produce a portfolio of work, which can
then be used to progress onto further training and education
 Volunteering with arts activities and cultural events
 Skills development
 Participation in a “next steps” access programme which enables participants to
enter Further Education
Delivery
Creative Progression delivers a series of arts activities in Newcastle upon Tyne two days
per week at Crisis Skylight.
The programme runs on 25 week cycles which involve three phases:
 development/artist recruitment
 workshop delivery
 exhibition/presentation of artwork
Participants are able to enter and leave the programme at any time. Participants are
referred onto the programme by five key service providers who have existing
relationships with homeless adults in Newcastle upon Tyne. These are:
 Crisis Skylight Newcastle
 Tyneside Cyrenians
 Homeless multi-agency group
 Newcastle Community Safety (anti-social behaviour) Unit
 Day Activities Consortium Mental Health Link Worker
Although participants referred to the project have chaotic lifestyles, they will have shown
that they want to engage with activities which will help them to shift from their current
circumstances.
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Approximately 15-20 participants access the programme at any one time. The average
attendance at each workshop is expected to be six people.
Key Achievements
Since October 2009, the project has made the following key achievements:
 Production of six short documentary films premiered at Tyneside Cinema in March
2010. The films have also been screened at BALTIC, Centre for Contemporary Art as
part of the Northern Lights Film Festival and on the Community Channel.

Publication of ‘The Hidden City’, an anthology of creative writing mapping experiences
of homelessness.
Programme Plans for 2010/2011
In 2010/2011 we will deliver a series of high quality, challenging and dynamic arts
activities and workshops facilitated by professional artists.
The programme of activity for 2010/2011 includes:

A six month programme of tailored and tapered support to help the group who
previously undertook a programme of documentary filmmaking in 2009/10 to produce
films and develop a business plan/secure funding to establish their own film
company/collective.

A six month drama programme to further develop writing emerging from The Hidden
City into a play to be performed within a professional theatre in Newcastle.

60 two hour creative workshops (activities to be confirmed).

140 hours of one-to-one mentoring for the participants by the artists working on the
programme to help them develop individual portfolios of work and make links to the
cultural life of the city.

Weekly one-to-one support for the participants from Crisis Skylight Newcastle
Progression Coordinators to help them identify progression routes

Developing relationships and sign posting participants to services provided by
external agencies across the city to provide access to education, training or
volunteering opportunities.
Management and administration
The Creative Progression programme is managed and administered by Helix Arts, Crisis
Skylight Newcastle and Tyneside Cyrenians. A number of key structures are in place on
the project to help support and deliver the programme successfully. These include:
 Monthly Case Management Group meetings to discuss each participant’s progress
and help to develop new progression strategies.
 Quarterly Partners Group meetings to oversee delivery of programme objectives.
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
Bi-annual Programme Strategy Group meetings to link the arts programme to wider
support activities/services for homeless adults.
In addition, an Activities Support Worker coordinates and supports the delivery of each
workshop.
Evaluation
An independent researcher is in place to evaluate and assess the impact of the arts
programme on the participants in order to inform future projects and to disseminate models
of good practice to the wider public.
Project Partners
The Creative Progression Programme is a collaboration between:
Helix Arts
Helix Arts works with artists, in partnership with public and voluntary sector organisations,
to create opportunities for people to participate in high quality arts activity.
Our Vision is based on our belief that participation in creative activity is fundamental to
the well-being of individuals and communities and therefore should be accessible to all.
Our Mission is to increase equality of opportunity for people to participate in the arts and
our focus is on those who currently have least opportunity including: children and young
people at risk; unemployed adults and employed people on low incomes; people living in
deprived neighbourhoods; those with special educational needs; and people with poor
health, particularly the elderly.
In a typical year Helix Arts works with 30 to 50 artists, selected for their ability to coproduce high-quality art through a participatory process. We work across a range of art
form areas. Helix Arts has charitable status and is revenue funded by Arts Council
England, North East. For further information, please visit www.helixarts.com
Crisis Skylight
Crisis is the national charity for single homeless people dedicated to ending
homelessness by delivering life-changing services and campaigning for change. Crisis’
innovative education, employment, housing and well-being services address individual
needs and help people to transform their lives. Crisis Skylight Newcastle is an education,
training and employment centre for homeless and vulnerably-housed people in the heart
of Newcastle offering practical and creative workshops in a supportive and inspiring
environment together with formal learning opportunities that lead to qualifications and
finding work. Classes include art, car maintenance, ESOL, meditation and yoga, IT and
creative writing.
The Cyrenians
The Cyrenians is one of the country’s leading and most progressive homeless charities.
Dedicated and committed to delivering a diverse and expanding range of services
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including residential, resettlement, rehabilitation, day centre provision and outreach, to an
often neglected and hidden part of the community.
Their innovative approach to reaching vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, places
people at the centre of their services and has led to groundbreaking projects, which make
real difference to the lives of many people every day.
2010 is the 40th anniversary of the charity’s foundation. Originally known as 'Tyneside
Cyrenians' it provided services for people 'sleeping rough' in the city of Newcastle. Forty
years on The Cyrenians has been announced as one of the best organisations to work
for in the UK, achieving 2 Star Status in the ‘Best Companies to Work For’ survey of 2010
and was National Charity of the Year in 2008.
Project Funding
The 2009/2011 programme is funded by Newcastle Working Neighbourhoods Fund.
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