FREE Schools Workshops Tackling Abuse

Aim

We will co-design participatory workshops with young people which center around relationship health with a creative arts outcome.

I am Rosie Race an Actor, Theatre maker, lecturer and facilitator based in the south west.  I am the lead artist for a very exciting project coming to Plymouth which aims to support the Violence Against Women and Girls commission and deliver vital, live saving education which isn’t yet available in the national curriculum.

Sexism and sexual harassment is sadly part of everyday school life in the UK (according to Feminsta UK and the National Education Union, in mixed-sex secondary schools over ¼  teachers hear sexist language on a daily basis and over 1/3 third of female students have been sexually harassed while at school) and in England and Wales, on average 2 women are killed a week by a current or former partner. 

The Relationship Health and Anti-Abuse Schools Program will be be delivered in 2 stages.

Stage 1- Co creation Workshops within a partner school.

Using creativity and conversation to discuss and explore Young People’s experience of relationships and their feeling of safety in school, social situations and in public.

Stage 2- With our team of PSHE specialists, psychotherapists, artists and with resources from Feminsta UK we will use the findings and information gathered from the co-creation sessions to design participatory workshops centered around relationship health with a creative arts outcome. 

These workshops are designed to leave the school with life-saving relationship health educational resources, lesson plans and advocacy group starter kit so the work can continue in definitely.

We believe our project will make a meaningful contribution towards dismantling misogyny and combatting wider violence against woman and girls.

This is a project funded by Arts Council England which allows us to deliver these workshops for free to Young People in schools across Plymouth. However As part of their financial pledge we need to raise match funding of £1600 for the project to reach it’s greatest potential.

There is no obligation to donate to our crowdfunder it will not affect your child accessing these workshops, however if you are in the position to be able to donate any amount would be gratefully received.

Alongside this outreach project we are staging a theatre show ‘Us Against The World’ which is being produced for the Drum Stage at Theatre Royal Plymouth where I am associate artist.

You can read about our exciting and important show by clicking here:

https://theatreroyal.com/whats-on/against/ 

And you can watch a teaser trailer here:

www.youtube.com/embed/t9Ea5jK8EOg?wmode=transparent

This show has been made in close collaboration with those who has lived experience of domestic abuse and sexual assault survivors. I wanted to make a show which challenges the misconceptions of what a victim ‘looks’ like. 

Emotional and psychological domestic abuse is a complex and widely misunderstood topic. This commonly results in blaming the victim which leads to further isolation and danger.

We are also interested in how popular culture plays into perceptions of romance and how toxicity and even abuse is seen as normal or desirable.

This project successfully funded on 18th March 2024