"It's a reason to leave my house and talk to people"

Laughter and loud, excited banter reaches my ears as I ascend the staircase to The Upper Room. I enter the festively decorated room set for our Meaningful Art Expression groups Christmas wind up and the interaction between the young people present gives the impression of life long friends, that know each other very well.

In reality some of these young people have only met each other in the last few months, some a little longer but if you knew just a smidge of their life journeys and the struggles they have and do face on a daily basis, you’d be in awe, as am I, of the power of personal growth, coping techniques and relationship building that involvement in this program has helped these young people develop.

Some of our participants completed an exit feedback form at the end of this term helping us learn from them how they have found the program, their favourite parts, things that need to change and what impacts it’s had on them.

We learnt that they rated out of 100% positively these statements:

“I have gained skills to help me cope better emotionally and mentally” at 72%

“I have gained a greater understanding of myself” at 84%

“The group has helped me express my feelings through art” at 80%

“Since Starting the group, I have used what I have learned in the group” at 45%

Anna and her team have worked incredibly hard this year to build these groups and create a safe, welcoming space for young people that are struggling in life. Often they have isolated themselves from society and connection with other people. They don’t see themselves in a positive light and their sense of worth is virtually non-existant in many cases. It has been a massive step for a young person to just show up the first time to this group let alone committing to coming every week.

Art allows them a medium to explore topics each week in a creative way and they are expertly guided through how they think and act in these areas. Many of their art work to start with is so black, representing the depth of their pain and lack of hope. After weeks of black art work a touch of colour starts to appear and it gets bigger the next week….How exciting are those moments, that spark of hope appears and grows.

As one of the young people wrote in answer to “What I enjoyed the most about this group was:” It is a reason to leave my house and talk to people” it sums up completely the strongest aspect of these groups, it’s the relationships that are the most powerful and memorable for them. In the words of another participant it’s “People who accept me and care”.

There’s been breakthroughs, revelation of trauma, disclosures, communication with their parents and loved ones openly about tough stuff and healing. It’s not always easy for them to come and their families have been amazing to keep supporting them in getting here, one mum we learnt has a novel way of encouraging her teen to attend, when aswering, What I didn’t like about the group was: “My mum sitting on me to wake me up” Whatever gets the results right?

As the group settles in to their pizza, ice cream sundaes with plenty of mix ins and their Barbie movie is getting ready, one voice pipes up “Can you all be quiet, I just want to soak in the beauty of this room right now” you can bet it’s not just the decorations they are referring to, it’s the love, care, acceptance, friendship and hope that is enveloping these brave young people who have made very big steps this year.

Meaningful Arts will continue next year, Anna is needing some support people to come and help her in 2023. If you love and are good at art that’s fantastic and an added bonus but we aren’t necessarily after that first and foremost. We are searching for people that care, can listen, can show up and just be alongside young people and accept them for who they are and who they can become. The group is held on Thursday’s during school term from 3.45pm - 5.15pm. You can contact Anna via email meaningfulart@teenchallengetasmania.org