Home and Belonging

The project is an ambitious, collaborative and arts-based exploration of home and belonging founded on mutual creative enquiry by care experienced young people
alongside their communities. It begins with a core group in Shetland, expands to connect with young people and partners across the island communities of Orkney and
the Western Isles, and will then share the resulting insights and impact with those further afield – in striking and imaginative ways that engage ‘beyond the head’.
The project creates a stimulating and reflective space to consider how we each construct a sense of home and belonging, and how young people can be better supported and empowered in this process, as they come into care, live in care, leave care and shape their lives beyond. The project explores the barriers to young people feeling at home and work with young people and service providers, including care services and housing providers, in order to produce new thinking, strategies and practical interventions to overcome those barriers.

The project aims to
• provide care experienced young people with an opportunity to reflect on what it means to be ‘at home’ in private, public and community spaces
• enable young people to develop a stronger sense of home and belonging through active participation and leadership in community-building creative exploration
• transform how partner organisations work alongside care experienced young people, enabling young people to have a different experience of the places and communities in which they live.