Flower power and smart art

19^th February saw the commemoration of National Care Day. The day is known as a celebration around the world of children and young people with care experience. It is a time for everyone associated to come together and bond over the stories and achievements of children and young people.

At our homes, our young people wrote messages on the petals of a paper sunflower to mark what care should be about. The below image was produced by our young people at Tarra near Fife, Scotland.

These words serve as a reminder to everyone associated with Pebbles of the hard work and dedication that goes into caring for our young people. Such simple messages can inspire so much within us, and the sunflower reminds us all that brighter days are indeed ahead for everyone.

Nurturing and developing talent

Meanwhile, ‘Who Cares? Scotland’ recently ran an art competition for young people to express their love and hope for the future.

One of the young people based at our Dala residence entered the competition and, amongst many entries from across Scotland, emerged victorious!

This is a huge acknowledgement of our young person’s talent, creativity and the progress he has made with Pebbles. It is also testament to the compassion, nurturing, expertise, love and hope provided by Gemma and her team at Dala.

This piece of work originated from Pebbles Academy’s therapeutic art course, developed by Kerry McLean and Caroline Blake (Muirkirk). Through our collaborative approach to remote learning, throughout which our young person has thrived, Dala staff worked in partnership with the school to support him as he went on to produce many amazing pieces of work.

The therapeutic art course itself has its roots in the therapeutic activity book produced by the Psychology Team, alongside education staff (Caroline and Hazel Cooper, Pebbles Academy Dunfermline). The links being forged between teams are having a transformational effect on our young people!

Let this be a celebration of our young person’s wonderful achievement, and also to remind us of the difference Pebbles makes to our young people – every single day.