• Escape Artists
By Simon Webb
Escape Artists emerged in 1996 from a small drama group in Wayland Prison. Today we are a vibrant multi-arts charity, based in Cambridgeshire and London, with an impressive track record and a compelling vision for the use of arts in education and social inclusion. Since our foundation, we have worked throughout the UK and Europe in numerous professional venues, schools, prisons, mental health hospitals, and community settings.
Our work is centred on confidence-building, supporting clients in developing a positive attitude to education, and with continued learning development through ongoing signposting, to promote a sustained sense of wellbeing and prevent anti-social or destructive behavior.
At Escape Artists we use a self-developed model called The Bridge, which is designed to help people cross from the margin to the mainstream of society. We aren't too hung up about failure (in a sense, we expect it). We are delighted when our clients are successful, but we recognise that for many, simply being involved in the arts can be an end in itself. There doesn't always have to be a progression to something else. Many of our clients come to us, enjoy themselves, state that they want to get on the Bridge, then promptly fall off. The important thing for us is to provide continuity of service and support. Our job is to be there so that, for instance, if an ex-prisoner has fallen off the Bridge for the fifteenth time we are still there when they want to have another crack at getting across. We will do our utmost to ensure that no one is ever excluded from attempting to travel along the Bridge.
So for some, engaging with our work is simply a means to improving their level of wellbeing, typically confidence and self worth. For others, their journey across The Bridge is aided by the progression qualifications we have developed, that provide participants with the opportunity to gain nationally recognized accreditation through a structured learning programme. Although our courses can be delivered in stand-alone form, we aim to work with contractors on the provision of progression qualifications for the clients we engage with.
Escape Artists’ courses are Open College Network (OCN) accredited. Our aim is to assist clients in the development of literacy, numeracy and key social skills, aiding them in the process of becoming self-supporting, employable and active citizens. We use the arts as a tool to facilitate the learning process and achieve learning outcomes. Drama and music feature strongly in most courses but video and creative writing are also employed depending on the interests of participants.
Dynamic teaching methods encourage direct participation from learners through practical exercises and hands-on experience. Traditional classroom tutorials are minimal and evidence for accrediting our courses, when required, can be gathered through a variety of means, ensuring everyone can benefit from our programmes.
Although we have a number of courses already developed, we are always open to working with clients to cater for their individual needs. One case where this has recently happened is our work with HMYOI Feltham. We ran an accredited course to develop drama soft skills with prison officers as an alternative means of engaging the young people under their care. As our courses are designed primarily for practitioners experienced in their medium but new to working with vulnerable groups, we designed a new course, specifically tailored to the needs of the officers.
We are also soon to be working with HMP Littlehey, running four OCN Level 2 music and visual arts courses with the Mental Health team in the main prison.
One case of the Bridge allowing for a participant to make a significant difference in society is that of Chris Streeks. Chris and Escape Artists came into contact whilst he was still in prison, and since his release, we have worked together to develop the SALT Project. SALT stands for Social And Life skills Training and is an intensive six-week programme aimed at using drama to tackle issues faced by socially disengaged young people. The programme uses drama-based soft skills to develop learners‘ engagement with issues of social responsibility, enhance emotional intelligence, and encourage a forward-thinking understanding of consequences.
In unaccredited form the programme, written by Chris, who is a trained practitioner and Prison Reform Trust media spokesman, was successfully piloted at George Green School (Isle of Dogs, London); at this time it was featured on This Morning with Phillip and Fern. Escape Artists have worked with Chris to accredit The SALT Project, embedding OCN unit 'An Introduction to Understanding Young People, Law and Order' at E3 and Level 1.
At Escape Artists we believe in the methods and practices we have developed, and are keen to hear from you if:
- You are a contractor that works with marginalised or 'at risk' groups of people and you are looking for highly engaging, structured education and training services that provide accredited progression routes to further education or employment
- You are an arts practitioner wishing to work in partnership with an organisation that can provide support in the areas of professional development, project management, course creation and accreditation
- You are a funder committed to developing sustainable approaches to social inclusion and building meaningful relationships between service providers.
To find out more about the services we offer, please visit our Community Arts website.
Read more about a music workshops programme run by Escape Artists at HMP Lewes, see the article here:
Please contact Abi Knipe, Tel: 020 7655 0909, if you would like to discuss how Escape Artists can work with you.
