Message from Deryn Harvey, Chair of Trustees
I hope you’ll see from this summer newsletter we’ve had another busy and fruitful term, wrapping up a very successful year for AT The Bus. The team has supported over 700 children from nine schools and we hear from headteachers and other school staff about the difference we make to children and young people’s lives. The board is pleased to see important steps made in consolidating the charity’s foundations with critical, but often hidden issues such as governance, fundraising and training being high on our agenda.
The charity fundraising landscape is exceptionally tough at the moment and we continue to work hard in this area, with a mixed economy approach that comprises contributions from every school we work with, some commissioned provision, as well as grants and donations from individuals, trusts and foundations. We are very fortunate to have so many generous and loyal supporters who enable us to continue to grow AT The Bus. I would like to thank everyone for your generosity and acknowledge the tremendous difference your support has made this year.
Message from Juli Beattie and Maggie Scott, Joint CEOs
As the school year draws to a close we’d like to thank all our colleagues, volunteers and our many schools and other partners we work with. It’s been a busy and productive year with several important milestones achieved, including enhanced training provision for our facilitators, the commencement of a formal evaluation study by Oxford University and a successful partnership with Selfridges in London, delivering Easter workshops for children. We are grateful for your continued interest and support, and wish everyone a well-deserved and relaxing break over summer.
A “tsunami of mental health problems for children”
According to Kevin Gordon, Director of Children’s Services at Oxfordshire County Council, “We are facing a tsunami of mental health problems for children and young people and unless we do things differently, we won’t be able to meet the demand”.
Sadly the evidence of the legacy of the pandemic and other pressures on young people’s lives has not gone away. On the contrary, we hear more and more about what a challenging time it is for children to be growing up, with one in six children aged 7-16 having a mental health disorder (NHS digital 2022) and 39% of children reporting that their mental health declined between 2017 and 2021 (NHS digital 2021). The services which could provide support are overwhelmed, with long waits and high thresholds for access to Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
AT The Bus is uniquely placed to respond as there are very few providers working in schools and, as far as we can tell, none that provide a small group intervention using art as a therapeutic tool to support mental health and well-being. We are proud to be doing something different that is successfully supporting young people in need.
“I find it difficult to talk to people about my worries at home and in school but talking here in a group where everyone is kind is easier. Coming here helps me forget all about my school worries and family worries. I can switch off and focus on my project.“
We regularly receive feedback from children and their families as well as teachers and other school staff telling us what an impact our sessions have. We know, however, that we also need quantitative metrics to evaluate our work and are, therefore, delighted to have now concluded the first year of a formal independent evaluation conducted by Oxford University. An interim report will be produced in September, while initial indications from the first two school terms of research are looking positive in terms of our impact on social, emotional, behavioural and attentional difficulties for primary school pupils; and resilience, depression and anxiety, and well-being for secondary school pupils. We look forward to providing more information on the evaluation in our annual report later this year.
Investing for growth – new developments
In our annual report in January, our five-year business plan set ambitious growth targets, to work in more schools and support many more children in the future. Over the past two terms we have continued our focus on investing for growth, embedding and strengthening our people and internal processes and adding capacity in critical functions. Our planned delivery is on track. This academic year 2022/23 we have provided 17,000 hours of intervention (8,800 in 2021/22) with 700 children attending Beattie Method sessions for at least one term — an escalation of need in referrals means some groups are smaller/extended beyond one term.
Our school partnerships are at the heart of our delivery model, enabling us to reach children and young people where they are best placed to receive support and with minimum disruption to their regular activities and schedule. We are grateful to have worked with committed headteachers, teachers and other staff at the following schools this term.
Ensuring that robust learning and development underpins our practice is essential to our continued growth. Sarah Ambrose, an experienced manager who has worked closely with Juli for many years, has taken on the new role of Learning and Development Lead. Juli and Sarah are developing an enhanced training programme to continue delivering in-house staff training, as well as external training in The Beattie Method.
We are also developing new approaches to enhance the impact of our work. We’ve completed two terms at St Marylebone CE Bridge School in Westminster, a school supporting 11-16 year old students with additional communication, speech and language needs. We are pleased at how well the students have responded and by the work they have produced. Their successes have been overwhelming.
We have begun piloting family workshops at New Marston Primary School. The workshops bring together a parent/carer to work alongside their child, helping to strengthen relationships and build confidence and skills. It’s been wonderful to see the group working well together, and feedback from parents/carers and children has been very positive:
“I can’t believe she’s spoken to another adult. “
“Before I came I couldn’t do art, now I’m proud.”
“It’s a masterpiece!“
We are now planning further family groups in Oxford and London for next academic year.
We have also piloted a new approach to supporting sixth form students at The Cherwell School, where we offered work experience for their ‘World of Work’ day and subsequently provided pop-up workshops for students during the summer exam period.
“I really enjoyed my morning art session, it really took my mind off my exams and calmed me down, which I didn’t know I needed, but I’m so glad I came. Thank you to everyone who made it happen!“
Bespoke projects inspire discussion and creativity
Every AT The Bus team delivers a bespoke set of projects suitable for individual children and groups. These are built from the wide array of projects that Juli and the team have developed over the years (many are available via our website art project pages). This term our children have enjoyed ingenious projects; from making Van Gogh-inspired chairs, to tie dye shirts, chess boards on trays, decorated wooden stools and many more.
Books are an important part of The Beattie Method, providing inspiration for both group discussion and art making. This term a particular hit has been The Boy with Flowers in his Hair by Jarvis, prompting many wonderful conversations about friendships and caring for others. The book was awarded the Oscar Book Prize for 2023, given to the ‘Best picture book of the year for young children’.
We are keen to celebrate our students’ work and during the term hosted several exhibitions for children, their families, school staff and other partners to celebrate successes. Earlier in July an exhibition at New Marston Primary School brought together over 40 people, including many very proud students and their families, who were delighted to showcase their creative achievements.
Planned fundraising activities
Fundraising remains very much at the front of our minds and is vital if we are to continue to deliver for young people. A key plank in our annual fundraising approach is the Big Give Christmas Challenge campaign that we join every year. The Christmas Challenge is the UK’s biggest match-funded campaign; running from 28 November – 5 December 2023, supporters can double your donation and make a huge difference to the lives of others.
We are currently seeking generous supporters to ‘pledge’ a donation amount between £500-£1,000 which will be used as match funds to double online donations made to AT The Bus during this year’s Christmas Challenge campaign. So far we have secured pledges of £6,000 and are aiming to raise a total of £8,000 in pledges to take part in the campaign. Please do contact us at info@atthebus.org.uk if you would like more information. If you are able to make a pledge it would mean an enormous amount to us, as your donation would be doubled and potentially tripled via the Big Give. We are also inviting supporters to become a Friend of AT The Bus, through making regular monthly donations of any size. As little as £5.00 per month makes a real difference. Please consider becoming a Friend if you are able to do so. The regularity of these donations is enormously valuable as regular donations provide reliable funding in what is often an uncertain and bumpy fundraising landscape. Alternatively, scan the QR code here to make a donation via our Just Giving page.
Spreading the word to support children’s mental health
Over the Easter holidays, Selfridges in London invited AT The Bus to be part of their celebrations, sponsoring three days of art workshops for almost 90 children on board our double-decker bus studio. Located outside the store, the bus attracted lots of attention from curious passers-by, building awareness and attracting new supporters to our work.
“What you’re doing is absolutely amazing and so unique! I’ve felt most inspired and so lucky that I had the opportunity to meet you and see your work for AT The Bus.“
“The vibrant energy of the Bus on the mews and the children and practitioners during your workshops is unrivalled.“
Ox Magazine’s May issue – the Art Edition – featured a great interview with Juli about the work of AT The Bus https://www.atthebus.org.uk/ox-magazine-features-at-the-bus/
In July, we were invited to take part in the Youth in Mind conference at St Edward’s School in Oxford, where we ran a series of workshops using The Boy with Flowers in his Hair, and Picasso’s faces. Participants produced masterpieces on pizza boxes. Speakers at the conference included our Patron, Professor Mina Fazel, and Paul James, CEO of the River Learning Trust, who visited the Bus for the first time to see the service we offer to some of the Trust’s schools. Both Paul and Mina spoke about the urgent need for innovative early intervention to support children’s wellbeing. We are proud that AT The Bus is helping to address this issue.
As part of Mental Health Awareness Week in May, Juli Beattie and Sarah Ambrose spoke about the work of AT The Bus at a virtual lunchtime seminar with city firm Columbia Threadneedle Investments. This attracted an international audience of over 100 and focused on encouraging positive strategies for mental health.
And finally, we’d like to recognise Cathy Hollingworth, Co-founder and Communications Director, who is leaving AT The Bus. Cathy has worked closely with Juli right from the start in 2018. Cathy has done an amazing job spreading the word about who we are, what we do and why the work is so important. Our heartfelt thanks Cathy, for all you have done to get the charity off to a flying start, we will miss you!
As we close at the end of another school year, we also thank you for your support whether financial contributions, volunteering time with children or in the office, or donating furniture and art materials. Your help makes a real difference to our ability to support children and young people!
