Project
The Child’s View
A story series giving voice to young people’s experiences of neglect, divorce and domestic abuse.
Strengthening young people’s capacity to identify unhealthy relationships and develop empathy for one another. Empowering professionals to offer better ongoing support to young people in their schools and groups experiencing tricky things at home.
Project Purpose
The need for this project became evident when a group of teachers engaged with our film, Make Do and Mend during delivery of our Demystifying Domestic Abuse training. Whilst our focus was on empowering professionals to recognise and support their peers, it was clear that they were concerned about how to support young people in their care who may be personally affected by domestic abuse.
This very much chimed with the 2021 Domestic Abuse Act which formally recognised children and young people as victims in their own right, shifting the language from describing them as “witnesses” of domestic abuse in their homes, to them having “experienced” abuse.
And so we set out to capture the “child’s view” of domestic abuse, working with a group of young people with a range of lived experiences to inform the stories, illustration and animation we would create to help adults see it from their perspective.
Project outcomes
Shared experiences
Young people who shaped the Sometimes it Hurts characters and stories felt that our fictionalisation was “spot on,” giving those with similar experiences the comforting sense that “you’re not the only one” and encouraging others to “understand more and be more kind” to those facing challenges outside of the classroom.
Increased desire for creativity
Young people who engaged with the stories in pilot workshops recognised the importance of this kind of learning content but wanted the chance to go into more detail and get more creative themselves. They found the stories diverse and felt they would be useful as training for teachers.
Useful tool
Professionals who participated in our webinars to share the animation found it impactful and felt it would be a useful tool to help educators better support children.
Bringing the project to life
Scrapbooking in lockdown
Writer Bridget Hamilton led a programme of creative workshops with young people from Creative Youth Opportunities, inviting discussion around ideas of family, relationships, hurt, trust and getting support. Through participatory discussion and creative activities, including scrapbooking, she gathered thoughts to shape the stories and characters that would become Sometimes it Hurts.
The co-production process
To protect our youth participants’ anonymity, Bridget fictionalised the stories, making sure to sense-check her first draft with the young people to make sure they could recognise their input and that it conveyed what they wanted it to convey. We commissioned Tamsin Rees to illustrate the stories and Sheryl Jenkins to create an animated taster of each story for ease of sharing.
Testing, sharing and learning
We ran pilot workshops based on the book and animation with young people at Daisy Arts, Bishop Auckland College and King James I Academy, as well as holding a series of webinars to share the content with professionals. Our focus was to gather feedback to shape the next phase of development.
Book us to deliver a workshop for your young people based around one or more of our Sometimes it Hurts stories.
Get in touch
Our
Impact
Related Materials
Sometimes it Hurts books
Buy a physical copy of our Sometimes it Hurts story series to help you support young people navigating challenges at home.
Find out more
Sometimes it Hurts stories & resources
Access our Pay As You Feel Sometimes it Hurts stories and creative resources to help you support young people navigating challenges at home. These tools can also be used to support classroom learning about healthy relationships, coping strategies and support-seeking.
Find out more