Past Freelance Projects

Safe Ground - Our Own Stories

Co-facilitator

In 2020 I worked with the team at Safe Ground to deliver their three day creative programme Our Own Stories, with women with experience of the Criminal Justice System, in conjunction with the women’s charity Advance

‘Safe Ground is a national arts organisation designing and delivering therapeutic group work programmes for people in secure and community settings. The development of ‘Our Own Stories’ was our response to a request for provision designed especially for women with experience of the criminal justice system. The programme was designed in consultation with women in prison and offers participants the space and structure to reflect on, learn from, and plan for, moments of transition and transformation in their lives. It is currently delivered in women’s centres in Hammersmith and Finsbury Park as part of the London-wide Minerva wraparound service.‘

‘Safe Ground works only with expert delivery staff whose style ensures women’s meaningful participation and supports each individual’s progress towards fulfilling their potential. We were privileged to have Nicola lead the delivery of our Finsbury Park programme earlier this year, supported by a centre key worker. Nicola’s experience, insight, creativity and inclusivity were much appreciated by participants, her co-facilitator and staff, and we very much look forward to working with her again in the near future. We are proud to have her as a member of the Safe Ground team’.

Lindsay Murphy, Programmes Director, Safe Ground

Unlock Drama

Co-facilitator - working with male inmates on a Violence Reduction & drug awareness project, HMP Hull.

‘Nicola co-facilitated a project with Unlock Drama CIC at HMP Hull with serving prisoners, exploring the topic of violence reduction through theatre. She was an asset to the project. Nicola has a calm, caring and positive nature which translated well with the participants within the Criminal Justice setting. She co-directed a devised play, centered around the detrimental consequences of violence and the knock-on affect on others. Within her facilitation style, her acting experience came into play and was really beneficial and wonderful to be a part of.
Highly recommended.‘
Rebecca Boden Founder and Artistic Director Unlock Drama CIC

Reading Rep Engage - Community Engage Officer

Working with women in the Criminal Justice System, adults in recovery and addiction and dementia residents.

Engage is a community- based programme run by Reading Rep Theatre in Reading, Berkshire. The programme is funded to outreach drama workshops with some of the most vulnerable and marginalised groups in the area. As Community Engage Officer, I worked with the programme in 2018 for 12 months, working with four groups; women on parole in the Criminal Justice System, adults in addiction, adults in recovery, and elderly dementia residents in a care home setting.

I met with the other existing partner organisations that Engage works, learning about the diverse range of projects offered by Engage and how they could be improved and developed, as well as about the effectiveness of these projects. Delivering sessions was a major part of the role and that offered an opportunity to discover how best to work with each of these groups. In terms of expanding the programme, I engaged a new partner and wrote, developed and delivered two new trial projects with their clients. Additionally, I worked alongside an external consultant to develop and create a new evaluation framework for the Engage programme.

Image: Residents at Elizabeth Fry approved premises participating in a team-building drama game, January 2018

PARTICIPANT VERBAL FEEDBACK ON THE SESSIONS:

We were able to have a laugh

it’s about not feeling self-conscious in the space

Enjoyed the bonding, the mixing with everyone

It gave us the chance to be silly

Really liked the enjoyment of it

it brightened up my day

'Interactive sessions are fun, creative and enable women to overcome their anxiety. The work and progress made is often taking place ‘’under the surface’’ and internal changes are seen outside of the programme. They are great confidence boosters!' (Magda La Roux, Offender Supervisor)

ELIZABETH FRY APPROVED PREMISES – WORKING WITH WOMEN ON PAROLE

'I knew the women were coming to the sessions from intensely complex personal situations and was always grateful to have them come into the room. There was often initial self-consciousness, hostility, anxiety or quiet reservation. Some came in full of energy, opening expressing that they were wanting to make changes in their lives, looking forward to ‘home visits’, possible new jobs and a new start. At other times there was blank resignation from those who seemed to have been emotionally depleted by their experience of incarceration and couldn’t express any feelings at all, or by those who were still in addiction and undergoing treatment. Most common was an initial reservation about the idea of ‘doing drama’ and an immediate response and encouragement had to be given to counteract this. Generally, as the session unfolded, there would be a noticeable sense of relief that nobody was going to be made high focus or be embarrassed and that there could be some light-hearted fun in the sessions, where they could relax and ‘be themselves’, something which was often expressed in the verbal feedback.

Interactive confidence building session 06/04/18

“7 residents and 2 members of staff have attended today's session with Niki. All residents who attended were taking part in this group for the first time. One of the participants has presented to be quite withdrawn at first, shy and anxious. She has however managed to join in the activities and it was evident that with time she found the session easier. It was very helpful that Niki has worked around her difficulties and created a safe space for everyone. All residents engaged with the activities without hesitation and commented throughout the session on how much fun they were having. It was evident that the session enabled women to get to know each other better (at the beginning some of them did not know each other's names), allowed them to step outside of the comfort zone and become less self-conscious. One of the staff members who attended has just started her employment at EFAP and the session has enabled her to start developing positive relationship with residents”

(Partner feedback Magda Le Roux, Offender Supervisor)

An example of a 'Case study' - someone who benefited from the sessions

'Carlene has been an AP resident for around 4 months in 2017. Carlene has spent significant amount of time in prison (around 10 years) and as always in such circumstances- resettlement is a challenge. Carlene started to engage in interactive sessions with Nicola. Initially, some resistance was observed, but it soon has been replaced with enthusiasm and passion towards the sessions. We observed Carlene throughout her time at the AP and have attended many sessions where Carlene was present. It was beautiful to see how Carlene’s self-esteem and confidence started to grow and I believe that these sessions have been a vital part of this process. It seemed that Carlene’s acting talent has been utilised in the sessions with Nicola and it was very liberating for her to feel valued, praised and accepted. Carlene has now moved on into community and remains contact with the AP. She continues to do well. A large proportion of our resident group find these kinds of groups very difficult due to their complex needs and psychological factors. Our client group is often referred to as ’difficult to engage clients’. Taking these into account it is important to recognise that most who have attended sessions with Nicola stated that they really enjoyed the session and how much fun it was. They commented on the fact that it helped them to get to know each other, that they felt proud for ‘giving it a go’, that they felt ‘good about themselves afterwards’ and it was fun to ‘forget about the worries and do something different and fun.’

'Interactive sessions at the AP have been complimentary to all other innervations in place to support women to resettle back in to community in a positive manner. They supported residents in building positive group dynamics and being able to relate to each other. They also assist residents in becoming less self-conscious, build self-esteem, sense of achievement and encourage them to express themselves in a less conventional way. As all these topics are closely related to increased levels of anxiety and low selfworth, it does not surprise me that at times residents found such sessions as quite a challenge. Unfortunately, at times resistance has been an issue. These usually happens when group dynamics are unhealthy and one person who hold quite a status amongst others displays negative attitude towards the AP programme, this including sessions with Nicola. Nicola has been very successful at ‘’rolling with resistance’’ and it really paid off. It needs to be recognised that such attitudes have got source in one’s personal difficulties based on fear and anxiety and do not reflect the quality of sessions. Overcoming such fears is a journey and not always residents are ready or want to start such process. We feel that these sessions are very much needed and beneficial to our client group as they support their personal journey of self-development and change'.

“Interactive sessions are fun, creative and enable women to overcome their anxiety”

“The work and progress made is often taking place ‘’under the surface’’ and internal changes are seen outside of the programme. They are great confidence boosters!”

(Partner feedback Magda Le Roux, Offender Supervisor, Elizabeth Fry)

IRIS TREATMENT CENTRE, READING

At Iris Treatment Centre, I ran a simplified, stripped back version of Recoverist Theatre Project working with adults in addiction and recovery, using applied theatre and drama processes to build confidence and creativity, encourage team work and explore role-play.

FEEDBACK ON THE PROJECT FROM PEER MENTOR

Participants were able to express themselves more in the sessions
Participants were given the freedom and the opportunity to express themselves
The sessions were interactive and thought provoking
One participant who usually has a stammer took part in an improvisation story, giving a full account of the story and remembered everyone’s names without stammering at all
The sessions can be of benefit people in understanding body language
Participants can use their bodies and gain an understanding of body language to give a more confident image which will make them feel more confident
They can have fun in the sessions, which will improve mood swings

Abbeyfield Dementia Care Home, Winnersh, Berkshire

I started working at Abbeyfield Winnersh in October 2017, running bi-monthly sessions with residents with dementia. In terms of the session content, I was keen to see how I could expand the creative content of the sessions to include working with text, song, acting, use of props and creating poems and stories based on themes. The sessions were continually expanded creatively with a thoroughly prepared theme for each session; adding more aspects to test out the engagement levels amongst the residents.

Being a Mentor

A Reading based placement student started working alongside me at the beginning of 2018 to assist on the sessions. This was hugely welcomed, both in terms of contributing creatively to the sessions, as well as providing additional 1:1 support to individual residents during the sessions. As we work with large groups at Abbeyfield, this meant that engaging more residents in that group became more feasible, and residents could experience more engagement and interaction. It was also valuable experience to work in a mentoring capacity, passing on aspects of working with dementia residents and sharing appropriate research around the work.

“As a placement student and having not worked with dementia patients before, initially I was nervous about co-facilitating the sessions. What I have found over the past nine months however, is just how important Applied Theatre and Community Engagement Programmes are, as witnessing the impact they have on lives first hand has been incredibly eye opening and heart-warming.

I found the hour- long timing to work well, as it was just enough time to keep the participants engaged. The session content varied depending on what theme we had chosen, however what I observed was that by using songs and poems that related to the theme, this worked extremely well to keep the focus on the topic. For example, we used songs about Autumn and songs about Summer etc. I also observed that the more props the better! In our Easter session we sourced various props, including a toy bunny, flowers and brightly coloured felt to name a few to stimulate conversation. I also felt that being able to touch the props, like the felt, ensured the participants kept engaged. The reaction to being able to hold something or feel something allowed the participants to be more creative and therefore participate on a deeper level during the session.

To conclude, I found the combination of music, poetry and visually engaging props are key factors in facilitating a successful session when all incorporated together. Having not worked in this area before, it became very clear to me that not only where the residents enjoying themselves, their confidence and communication skills were also growing.

One of my favourite moments was during a Shakespeare session, in which one resident read an entire passage from Romeo and Juliet so beautifully after hardly saying a word since we had started. It is moments like that, that are a reminder of how important sessions and programmes like these are. There is also the element of fun and laughter that the arts and drama can bring, and the residents would often thank us when we were leaving with huge smiles on their faces. It has been a joy to teach them and an absolute pleasure watching them develop and enhance their creative skill set over the past nine months.

I found the sessions to be hugely rewarding and enjoyable; there is something very special about the impact the arts can have no matter who you are. Not only that, but the residents who took part were a joy to teach and always brightened up my day. Looking back on the whole experience, I can only say how wonderful it’s been and how lucky I feel to have had the opportunity”. Riley Head, Placement Student January 2018 – September 2018

Session content

All the sessions with the residents at Abbeyfield were themed and included; singing, working with props, incorporating chair-based movements, warm up games, reading text; poetry, classical text, reading text from film scripts and reading text from Shakespeare. Colourful visuals and pictures were used and a variety of themed props to provide a multi-sensory experience and to keep residents engaged. The attention span for those with dementia tends to be short, so it is important to have a variety of stimulus in the sessions.

Examples of session themes

Love theme

Springtime

Autumn

Halloween

Easter

Musicals – Mary Poppins/Singing in The Rain/West Side Story

Reading poetry

Reading classical text

Jobs & working

Dissenting Adults, Arcola Theatre Creative Disruption Festival 2018

“I am the effin Post-Brexit Universe. All I got to sort out now, is how to reverse time, back to 2016 when it all went, arse upwards.” (excerpt from participant monologue)

Nicola Hollinshead – Co-facilitator and director

Director’s Notes
Dissenting Adults was a devised theatre project created with the Arcola 50+ community group for ‘Creative Disruption Festival 2018‘.

The evolution of Dissenting Adults has been powered by a company with diverse experiences but a shared passion to tell stories. The show is a melting pot of stories that have come from rehearsal explorations of direct refugee crisis, refugee aid work, working-class status, protest, punishment, tuning in with nature and striving for fun. Above all we are displaying our resistance to break downs in humanity caused by fractured societies and political ideals.

We faced theatrical decisions about whether to send the audience a message or present what ‘just is’ for each of us. We toyed with diving into the darkness or focusing on the journey towards hope. Dissenting Adults is an amalgamation of such quests with company members challenging themselves as actors, as writers and as storytellers. We are grateful to the company for their personal explorations and generation of material throughout the process.

As directors coming from Applied Theatre studies and perspectives, we value the input of each company member and helping to shape their ideas and value all voices of the community. We have brought together our variation of theatrical skills to power the political of the Dissenting Adults production.

And so, we start: We start from the cracks, the fissures, the rents. We start from being angry and lost, because that is where we live, that is where we are. Perhaps it is a strange place to start, but we are looking for a strange thing. We are looking for hope in a dark night’.
John Holloway, Crack Capitalism (2010)