Summer HAF Scheme - WolverhamptonWe are pleased to have been funded by City of Wolverhampton Council and the Department for Education to provide Summer HAF (Holiday Activities and Food Programme) Specialist Arts, Craft & BSL (British Sign Language) activities.  These are FREE sessions for eligible* young people in Wolverhampton aged 7-16 (up to 25 with an EHCP).
We are holding our sessions at The Workspace at All Saints Action Network Ltd (ASAN), All Saints Road, WV2 1EL between 10am and 2.30pm prompt on these 10 days: · Monday 11th – Friday 15th & · Monday 18th – Friday 22nd August * There is no charge for these sessions: all tuition, high quality resources and a packed lunch are included. Eligible families will have received a letter regarding their eligibility. Please register your interest using the link below as soon as possible because spaces are, as usual, limited and feel free to share. #GivingPeopleACreativeVoice #summerhaf #HAF2025
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A Journey Through Art, Heritage, and Inclusion At RAW we're passionate about the power of art to connect communities, exploring heritage, and promoting inclusion. Our recent collaboration with The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust’s Arts and Heritage Group on the Care, Create, Conserve project perfectly embodies this ethos. Care, Create, Conserve was an 18-month long programme of arts and heritage activity, beginning in the 75th year of the NHS. Central to this project was the launch of a brand new Healthcare Heritage Centre, which exhibited a fascinating collection of medical artefacts, photographs, and memorabilia and acted as a community co-creation hub, hosting a vibrant programme of talks, events, and workshops.  Funded by a grant of £139,792 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded in October 2023, this project, which we began working on in February 2024, involved a range of creative commissions across Wolverhampton. The project aimed to consider issues of identity, disability, and language within a healthcare context. We were thrilled to team up and be commissioned by the Trust to deliver workshops through the project which saw school pupils and recovering patients taking part in enriching experiences within the workshops. Who We Worked With
What We CreatedThe workshops resulted in some truly thought-provoking and inspiring artworks: Penn Fields School Pupils collaborated to create a stunning 2D collage of The Royal Hospital building in All Saints, using torn-up newspapers and photographs about the hospital's history. The collaged sky includes clouds made from printed comments of what the NHS means to the young participants. They also constructed a detailed 3D model of the hospital from recycled cardboard, complete with a lift-off roof revealing miniature hospital scenes.  
At the NRU, West Park Hospital The Neuro Rehabilitation Unit at West Park Hospital looks after people with acute neurological conditions for example brain injury, Parkinson's and survivors of strokes. We worked with a small group of adults on a short series of creative sessions. Participants produced several artworks inspired by the Weeping Chapel, an octagonal Victorian building on the hospital site. These included beautiful dot paintings, delicate watercolour paintings, and intricate 3D cardboard models of the chapel.    Warstones Primary School's Deaf Resource Base The children collectively recreated Gary’s powerful painting "Two Worlds," which depicts Deaf and Hearing worlds working together in harmony. Each child was given a square section of the artwork, pre-printed with audiogram charts relating to patients' hearing checks.
 RAW's Gary O'Dowd, who is profoundly Deaf, said: “It was great to have the opportunity of working with the young people at the Deaf Resource Base at Warstones School. We were able to borrow some archive hearing equipment from the Wolverhampton Sensory Team which the pupils had a great time learning about and interacting with. I spoke with the children about how technology has advanced since I was a pupil myself at a school for deaf children in the North East in the 1980s. In recent times there have been huge advances in digital hardware for deaf people and smart phone technology now features deaf inclusive apps such as instant messaging, SMS texting, video calls and more specifically platforms such as Sign Video, Zoom, Facetime and BSL 999. Unfortunately, there are still many inequalities for Deaf and disabled people although BSL has eventually been officially recognised, it’s still not accessible everywhere or on the school curriculum. Projects like this are useful to raise awareness of such issues - framed in a creative, fun and interactive way.”   Elinor Cole, former Arts and Heritage Co-ordinator at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said: “We have seen some thought-provoking work produced by participants in these workshops – work that really allowed them to immerse themselves in the project. And the resultant artworks will help us to raise further awareness of our Heritage Centre and spark greater interest across our communities, as well as prompt reflection.”  Alex Vann from RAW added: “We found this such a rich and rewarding experience, and it was fascinating to see the artworks develop along the way. But it’s important to appreciate the wider benefits of these projects as we saw people of all ages developing new skills and gaining a real sense of satisfaction. They also benefitted from positive, social interaction with others and enjoyed working as a team. Projects like this help to break down barriers and challenge perceptions and remind us all that by looking back at the past we learn how to do things better in the future.” This project has demonstrated the power of art to explore our shared heritage, build bridges between communities, and promote understanding and inclusion. We at RAW are incredibly proud to have been a part of it and you can watch our end of project video below. Customer survey results The Care, Create, Conserve exhibition can now be found at Wolverhampton City Archives, Molineux Hotel Building, Whitmore Hill, Wolverhampton, WV1 1SF.
Useful links https://www.rwtnhscharity.co.uk/arts-heritage/care-create-conserve/ https://www.rwtnhscharity.co.uk/news/rich-and-rewarding-workshops-bring-many-benefits/ #NHS #CareCreateConserve #GivingPeopleACreativeVoice #Healthcare #Wolverhampton #RoyalHospitalTrust #WestParkHospital #PennFieldsSchool #WarstonesSchool #DeafAwareness #BSL A Springtime Burst of Creativity and Connection!What a truly fantastic Easter HAF (Holidays Activities and Food) scheme we've had this year! We were really pleased to be funded by the Department for Education and Wolverhampton City Council once again to provide this range of enriching art, craft, and BSL experiences. The HAF scheme is invaluable, providing funded places for eligible families of children and young people aged 7-16 (25 with EHCP) and recognising the profound impact holiday clubs have on them. These schemes are designed to help young people stay active, eat healthily, take part in enriching and engaging activities, and reduce social isolation. We are incredibly proud to design our activities based on previous feedback from young people, ensuring they are relevant, exciting and inclusive. Building on the success of previous years, our workshops once again offered a vibrant mix of activities, foster a strong sense of creativity, community and support for every participant. Day 1: Art, Healthy Living & BSL BasicsOur Easter HAF kicked off with a creative explosion! Young people dived into Minecraft drawings (including a fab 'Steve'!) and even a brilliant Jack Black portrait.  We then explored the weird and wonderful art of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, inspiring participants to create their own unique characters from fresh fruit – which they happily ate afterwards!
 Our wonderful Deaf role model, Gary, taught the children some valuable British Sign Language (BSL) vocabulary linked to healthy food, followed by an insightful presentation on living healthily by Alex. It was truly educational creative fun with a purpose!  Day 2: Clay, Charcoal & Creative ExplorationDay 2 brought more hands-on artistry! Clay modelling proved incredibly popular, and we loved seeing the fantastic creations take shape. Many young artists also experienced charcoal drawing for the first time, producing captivating pieces.   Day 3: Escher's Magic & Classic Designs Mid-week, we challenged imaginations by delving into the ingenious works of M.C. Escher. Participants were inspired to create their own impressive tessellation art.   Later, we journeyed back in time to the 1800s, exploring the famous Blue Willow Pattern plate design. Young people then created their own stunning Willow Pattern designs on plates – with a few cheeky Jack Black features making an appearance!    Day 4: Music, BSL & Performance!Our final day was a crescendo of music and sign language! Gary taught the children more British Sign Language (BSL), leading up to them learning how to sign our original song, "We Shine Together."  The creativity continued as they made their own instruments – Guiros, Tin Can Drums, Tambourines, and Maracas! The day culminated in two wonderful performances of the song: one with their handmade instruments and another entirely in sign language. What a powerful display of communication and teamwork!   The smiles, laughter, and incredible creations speak for themselves that took place over our Easter week. We're really proud of the energy and talent shown by everyone who joined us. A huge thank you to All Saints Action Network Ltd for graciously hosting our activities. Most importantly, our heartfelt thanks go to all our brilliant staff and dedicated volunteers, whose passion and hard work truly made this Easter HAF scheme unforgettable. You are the heart of REAL ARTS WORKSHOPS! We're already buzzing with ideas for our summer HAF activities and can't wait to see you there for more creative adventures! Participant Feedback from Easter HAF 2025
We were thrilled to hear what the young people had to say about their experience: I enjoyed everything and I had a lot of fun drawing Minecraft Steve. If I had to rate it, I would rate it 5 stars!" Survey Data
#EasterHAF
#Wolverhampton #YouthActivities #CreativeFun #BSL #Inclusion #ArtWorkshops #HAF2025 #RealArtsWorkshops News round up - June 2025Dear colleague Welcome to our latest newsletter showcasing some of our projects so far in 2025. We hope you enjoy reading it, and your organisation or group might feature! The PDF version below has live links, if your reader supports these you will be able to find out more information about a particular article. We have also been involved in uplifting and celebratory ‘Joy Project’ at Walsall Art Gallery this year. It’s on display until 6th July and you can read our full blog about that in an earlier post.   Please do get in touch with any queries / feedback on any of the articles or if you think we’d be a good match with your organisation to deliver uplifting and engaging art/BSL projects. Yours in art, Gary and Alex 
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AuthorReal Arts Workshops is an independent arts company based in the Black Country, providing bespoke workshops for various organisations and groups. Archives
July 2025
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