At the workshop we made the models out of recycled materials (mostly cardboard and packaging), which we covered in plaster bandage and then painted. As you can imagine it got a little messy at times but everyone had a lot of fun. We soon realised that with enough glitter and googly eyes, everything looks great.
As the workshops are a drop-in ones (a mixture of patients and their siblings) I wasn't able to assess the children's ages, abilities and how long they would be there for, so I prepared in advance by making a few finished and unfinished examples. That way the children could see some finished products as well as the stages that let up to their completion. It also meant that any of the kids with limited abilities or who were only able to drop in for a brief period were able to quickly finish off an almost completed piece and paint it before they had to leave.
Bright Futures UK is the first charity to provide support to young individuals who are forced to take time out from education due to medical circumstances – both mental health and physical health. If you would like to help, be it mentoring, tutoring or by organising workshops (or in any other way) then please feel free to check out the charity's programmes page.
