TCWF and MYTIME Young Carers Event
Our partnership event took place on Thursday 24th Feb 2022 at Bournemouth University and was in collaboration between The Colour Works Foundation and MYTIME Young Carers. The event was attended 16 young carers and 6 local business representatives, with a talk from Dr Alex Blower – Access and Participation Manager at Arts University Bournemouth.
The day started with a workshop based on the TCWF colour model for the young carers. The carers were asked to identify their dominant colour and talk as a group about the positive and less positive aspects of each of the four colour energies. The young carers were then split into their colour groups. Each group was asked to identify three things about their opposite colour that they needed to do more of, and three things they needed to do less of. This exercise highlighted the communication differences between the colours and showed the importance of colour diversity in groups.
We were joined by the business representatives from midday, and we undertook the Nuclear
Reactor challenge. All participants were split into mixed colour groups and asked to solve a logic puzzle. This saw all of the colour energies having to work together to solve the problem and communicate effective to reach the desired result.
Dr Alex Blower gave a talk about the importance of widening participation in otherwise under-represented groups in education. He discussed how young people from non-traditional backgrounds can face barriers in life, and how young people can use their individual strengths and personality types to build resilience and overcome adversity.
Speaking to the participants, both young carers and business representatives, the feedback for
the day was overwhelmingly positive. The young carers really valued the social aspect of the event, and it was a great opportunity for them to spend time with other young people who implicitly understand the nature of the challenges they face. The business representatives reported, across the board, how amazing they found speaking with young people and how much they valued the opportunity to understand the challenges they face and how the colour model and MYTIME have helped them.
Judging by the feedback we have received; the day was a resounding success. The young carers
had the opportunity to connect with and spend time with other young people who they could identify with, and the business representatives left with a clearer understanding of the importance of the work we do in partnership with MYTIME Young Carers.