Creative Aid is a co-creation project with care-experienced young men in Deerbolt Prison, supporting the young men to be recognised as artists. The initial phase of the project took place between 2023 and 2025, and this report focuses on the third year of delivery.

Following a creative consultation with young men at HMP / YOI Deerbolt, Blue Cabin and Nepacs were awarded funding by The National Lottery Community Fund, Reaching Communities Programme, to deliver a three-year project.

Read more about Creative Aid>>

Our short-term aims were to:

• support participants to develop their confidence and sense of pride, wellbeing and emotional literacy
• help them to explore their life stories and develop their relationships with others, including family members and peers in Deerbolt
• support them to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of the arts
• support participants to achieve an Arts Award accreditation.And our long-term aims were that Creative Aid participants:
• make pro-social choices, to refrain from reoffending, and engage in positive activities (both while serving their prison sentence and on release)
• use their Arts Award achievement to lead onto further education or employment opportunities, thereby reducing their likelihood of reoffending
• were recognised as artists and feel a sense of belonging in society
• increase their confidence to access the ‘arts’ in the community
• experience improved relationships with family and significant others.

Blue Cabin partnered with tialt to explore year 3 of Creative Aid. This report is rooted in detailed case notes, participants’ feedback, artworks, lyrical essays, poems, session observations, and ongoing dialogue between the Creative Aid team and the evaluation team.

The report you can read here is an edited version of tialt’s full evaluation. We have removed information which relates to security and procedures in the prison environment.

The report includes:

• An overview of Creative Aid
• The difference Creative Aid makes
• Outcomes beyond the programme aims
• How change happens
• Key learning about holding creative work in precarious conditionsYou’ll read reflections from artists, Blue Cabin and Nepacs staff, and the lads who took part in Creative Aid.

“This is life changing” – participant

Explore Time Never Stops, a virtual exhibition of artwork from year 3 of Creative Aid>>