Co-creation

HAF2021 Co-creation

Democratising our programme.

We employ co-design as a pervasive method to deliberately democratise our service through a transformative process that enables equitable power structures amongst key stakeholders.

Participants are given the opportunity each day to co-design the provision, deciding what activities we do and planning the trips. We are working very hard to give children the opportunity to lead on activities and we are working together to build a programme where people feel valued, are challenged and supported to do their best.

Just over 60% of students participated in our evaluation exercise at the end of the first week.  Of these 70% were very satisfied with the programme and the remaining 30% were satisfied with it. Over 90% felt they often had opportunities to lead on an activity compared to none who felt they never had those opportunities. 

Responding to participants needs collectively

We have created a climate where participants feel comfortable enough to tell us what they want to do and how they want it done. That way we are able to better respond to participants needs.

Younger participants wanted a play room for their own, without the older (primary school) children. So we worked with them to set out the playroom the way they wanted and made it an under 8's only area.

Participants told us they wanted time each week to watch a movie (with snacks) so we collected a list of what they wanted to watch (to screen it) and found a compromise on how healthy the snacks should be.

Participants told us they wanted time on the computers, to play games and do some project work, working within reasonable limits for the amount of screen time they have each day.

Participants wanted food available throughout the day. So we kept the kitchen open all day.

Working with children to deliver the programme

We have a culture where we take responsibility for ourselves and those around us. This means that we all have to help set up activities, ensure activities are delivered properly and people behave as they should, and clean up.

 Creating opportunities for participants to lead on activities

We work with participate to identify and support leadership opportunities at every level, from preparing and setting out breakfast, bouncy castles or other activities to book-keeping for our project accounts.
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