Senior Lecturer in Performance and Director of Schools Engagement (Drama)
Young people’s experience of care is often stigmatised and unheard, making them feel disregarded and like a statistic. It also makes impossible to implement necessary changes to improve the quality of life of those that have been in care. In May 2022, The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care published its final report, calling for a fundamental reset of the system to improve this.
In 2015, the researchers led a series of workshops for care-experienced young people at four universities in London (Queen Mary, Greenwich, East London and Goldsmiths). Since then, they have delivered two major projects at The Foundling Museum, which included twelve in person workshops, six online planning sessions with co-researchers, and four public performances.
Using the verbatim method, young care-leavers are anonymised and feel safer. TVF’s ‘Working Group Model’ (WG) offers a space for skill and creative-practice development, with TVF continuously enhancing awareness of young people's care experiences.
TVF developed their initial methodology in 2015. Researchers held workshops where participants recorded what they wanted to say, usually on a phone, creating their “testimony”. Testimonies were shared, with permission, through another person who would listen through headphones, repeating everything aloud, word for word – verbatim.
These testimonies are part of TVF’s ‘living archive’, shared at events around the country, where those listening can do so without any preconceptions.
Since 2022 TVF has developed their WG model, bringing together a core group of TVF co-researchers of 18-30 years old ‘care leavers’ on a permanent basis.
Using the verbatim method, young cares leavers feel more socially included – those who had felt isolated when they entered care found support and comfort in discovering they had experiences in common with other young people. Participants in TVF were able to freely express their hopes and dreams, and eighty percent said that taking part in TVF gave them new confidence and affirmed and enabled their aspirations. These impacts extend to areas such as higher education, where care leavers are typically under-represented.
Nationally only six percent of care-experienced young people attend university, but TVF increased the participants’ enthusiasm for university, and, as one girl said, ‘I realise that I can achieve my dreams even if they are big’.
Since 2022 TVF have developed their “Working Group” (WG) model, allowing young people involved to become co-researchers. This gives them regular structure, co-designing events and outputs, and allowing them to input into strategic decision-making and fund-raising activities. Young adults are often left struggling to find stable and safe accommodation, and find decent and regular employment, and care for their own mental and physical health with little or no support from older adults. WG provides ongoing supportive and personalised work through a creative research ensemble. The team have adjusted how TVF delivers the workshops, so that co-researchers can facilitate activities. This creates space for them to develop skills and leadership capacities as well as their creative practices. As a result, the team were awarded the TaPRA Transformative Research Award in 2023.
Since its inception, the project continues to enhance awareness of young people's care experiences through TVF and its events, videos and collaborations, including:
The Verbatim Theatre project supports SDG 10, reduced inequalities, through empowerment of care-experienced young people to share their stories through verbatim performances. By turning their lived experiences into impactful art, the project challenges inequality and promotes social inclusion. This platform amplifies marginalized voices, fostering empathy and understanding in the wider community. Through this initiative, Queen Mary contributes to reducing social disparities and creating a more equitable society for all
Sign up to learn more about Queen Mary research.