Case Study

Mothers and Mates

Jodie, Sandie, Adele, Sarah, Amy and Laura

A truly life changing project where a group of young women found a way of making their dreams reality through the unusual outlet of poetry.

Jodie, Sandie, Adele, Sarah, Amy and Laura, aged 15-16 formed the 'Mothers and Mates' group. The girls, from varying backgrounds came together through Northumberland EOTAS. They started to do Keyfund because they were trying to find ways of dealing with the issues they were facing in life. These issues included coping with being a young mum, relationship challenges, anger management and mental health issues. They had discovered, with the help of their facilitators Alison and Karen, that poetry helped them to express themselves in a positive way and prevented them from lashing out as they previously had.

At Keyfund stage 1 the girls put together a book of poetry and had it professionally published. The girls hoped that it would not only help them, but that other young people in similar situations could read it and know they were not alone.

The girls did an amazing job and sent Keyfund a very impressive, professionally printed book called 'Open Your Mind' filled with exceptionally expressive poetry.

Amy, Jodie and Adele progressed onto Keyfund Stage 2, using it as an opportunity to launch their book. They invited peers, teachers, friends and family along to help them celebrate their success and to start selling their books. Even when things got tricky they did not give up and had a successful event, with 40 guests attending and selling over 300 copies of their book.

All the girls made a huge amount of progress and personal development during their time using Keyfund. It was their confidence and self-awareness that blossomed most. In addition they all gained an Arts award. Alison, their facilitator, said that during their Keyfund work the group had met 16 of the 25 Every Child Matters outcomes.

The experience enabled the young people to turn their lives around, one of the group members explained “I write poetry now, instead of self-harming”.

In the evaluation Alison said “It was a privilege to facilitate these women through Keyfund. I have worked with them for two years and Keyfund was the climax of our work together. They did all the planning themselves. Keyfund made their dreams a reality, and will have a big long term effect on their self-esteem”.

The Mothers and Mates group have gone from strength to strength with two of the young women progressing into higher education. Amy, Jodie and Adele entered a poetry slam competition where they beat off stiff competition to win the Regional Final for the North East. They then went on to compete in the National Final in Manchester which was a huge achievement. The group continue to write poetry and recently participated in an open mic night, reading their work aloud to a live audience.

In reviewing the book, published author Carol Cooke commented “I like these girls. Their stories break your heart then put it back together again”.