Open Up the Mic in Blackpool

The challenge

Blackpool faces significant socio-economic challenges made worse by the pandemic and the global economic crash as a result. The English Index of Multiple Deprivation ranks Blackpool as the council area with the highest proportion of neighbourhoods within the most deprived 1 per cent nationally. Blackpool has the highest rates of children in need and looked after children in England, and young people are at higher risk of abuse. Mental health-related hospital admissions for under 18’s are significantly higher than the national average (Blackpool Health Profile, Public Health England, Sep 16). 88 per cent of Blackpool school pupils are below average in emotional resilience and 57 per cent are in the lowest 16 per cent of the population (Right to Succeed review). Many of the existing mental health initiatives for younger people are channelled through formal settings like school, missing those young people who are so marginalised or vulnerable they are now ‘outside of the system’ – for example missing school due to their mental health problems, family circumstances or indeed due to the pandemic.

Open Up the Mic was delivered when some Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. The first cohort (April – July 2021) were made up of young people that had group apathy from a year spent in and out of lockdowns, one young person found it difficult to sit in a circle with others and say their name. Bringing their minds into focus, eye contact and encouraging them to join in was the first challenge. Through gentle persuasion balanced with fast-paced activities we slowly began to bring the group together and get everyone taking part. The second cohort (Sept to Dec 2021) were a bit younger and didn’t know each other as well. The challenge here was peaking at the right time in the process, keeping up with the fast pace they were demanding and focusing their energies. 

The solution

A big motivation for the young people to be there was to have fun. The facilitators created a balance between silly games, socialising and the ‘serious stuff’ with every activity having a purpose and supporting the journey to the final performance. They were given journals and encouraged to write down things that happen to them. Young people learnt how to take a bad life experience and turn it into something funny to be shared. One young person spends more time in hospital than in school so for her final set she created ‘Sick Advisor’ – her reviews of the various hospitals she has visited. 

One young person shared his experience of being bullied as part of his final set, it was a poignant moment to stand up to his bullies and for his family to hear. “Some people say it is important to stand up to bullies but I find lying under a bush usually helps!” 

There are a number of factors that worked particularly well with the programme and fed into the young people's confidence, resilience and skills being built including; the length and consistency of the programme with a clear goal at the end, performing in front of a live audience and the participants seeing the difference it made to family relationships. 

Building in space within the sessions to socialise as a group and have 1 on 1 conversations with facilitators was important to help build strong and supportive bonds making it easier to take risks, try new things and not feel lonely. The unswerving encouragement and belief in the young people’s abilities was crucial.  

The young people were exposed to nine comedians, many who had ADHD, Dyslexia and confidence issues. The young people could relate to their stories and were inspired by using comedy to overcoming adversity. 

The impact

The programme was a big success, with 18 out of the 23 young people attending almost all their sessions (higher than their normal participation rate) as well as the final performance, an especially challenging event performing in a real comedy club for their friends, family and invited guests. The programme increased confidence, enabled strong peer bonds, improved their outlook on Blackpool and future aspirations.  

All four areas of wellbeing (interest in new things, interest in others, confidence and sense of place) saw an increase. “It was the scariest moment of my life but it gave me a big confidence boost when I heard people laughing at my jokes”. 

Over 60 per cent felt that Blackpool is a very good or fairly good place to live (up from 37 per cent at the start). 

Building resilience was an important outcome of the programme and this is clearly demonstrated by 43 per cent of Cohort 1 saying they felt more able to face up to their problems (up from 0 per cent at the beginning). 

Half of the young people said upfront building confidence was a reason to be involved. When prioritising the outcomes on completion, they placed confidence as the most important or valuable outcome of the programme.  

The young people felt more listened to and that their feelings were being validated, they learnt from hearing about others’ experiences, had increased self-awareness and took part in a new life experience which pushed them out of their comfort zone. 

Better relationships included some heart-warming family benefits. “I never thought I would see my children on stage in front of a crowd. The work that has been done with them is fantastic.” It is clear that over the 12 weeks, friendships developed and continued after the programme. Providing the safe space for the group to share personal stories and details with each other and build trust and mutual support was a therapeutic experience.  

Interacting with different people and exploring different comedy sparked curiosity and broadened perspectives. For both cohorts, most young people agreed that having a job or career is important.  We see at the end that there is a significant increase of 34 per cent of young people strongly agreeing with this statement. 

Photo by Andy Hollingworth

How is the new approach being sustained?

A legacy is already being created in the form of the Showtown Young People’s Steering Group. All participants of the Open Up the Mic were invited to join and five have taken up the offer. The group will meet fortnightly throughout the year to plan and design a variety of things for the museum including; events, app content, tours of Blackpool and work on the Blackpool Laughter Festival.  

During the school half terms, they will have the opportunity to join fun and engaging facilitated workshops where they can experience the inner workings of the entertainment industry ranging from learning performance techniques from magicians and comedians to lighting design from the illuminations - and everything in between. They will have the opportunity to work towards a Bronze Arts Award qualification along the way which will be celebrated with an event and certificate presentation.  

A new cohort of young people will join each year. Once they have completed a year on the Steering Group they can become museum volunteers.  

We have also applied for funding to deliver two more years of Open Up the Mic in Blackpool.  

Lessons learned

For any new project, there is the initial stage of formation where the team have to find their feet with each other and establish boundaries. For example, the role of the sessional worker (young person working for HeadStart) was unclear at the start which led to confusion and uncertainty as they were also participating in the sessions. Once roles were clear and boundaries and expectations set in Cohort 1, the team worked well together. We learnt from each other, felt confident to challenge, and supported each other with getting comfortable with a bit of disruption. This resulted in motivation being sustained and the concentration and behaviour of the young people being well managed.  

Cohort 2 required some adjusting to as they were a younger group so behaviours were different. The team did not know the young people as well, so felt we were less able to pre-empt the support that might be needed. Setting clear boundaries from the outset and being inquisitive early on about non-attendance worked particularly well. The effective way of working that had been established within the delivery team gave a good grounding for responding to challenges collectively. This can be seen in the excellent handling of sensitive conversations, turning these into constructive learning opportunities for the young people and the team. We led by example through positive behaviours, respect for each other, approaching problems calmly and collaboratively and being open to learning opportunities. 

The change of venue to for Cohort 2 was a success. It was a more intimate space than Cohort 1’s venue creating a more social and friendly environment. This encouraged interaction between the young people and meant that the comedians were immersed in the group from the beginning.  This led to more opportunities for conversations.

View the Open Up The Mic project 2021 on YouTube

View This is Blackpool video on YouTube

Contact

Kerry Vasiliou, email: [email protected]