It has been a fruitful and creative few weeks for me personally having enjoyed the rare opportunity to get away from audits, annual reports and fundraising to work artistically on projects.

I have been working with my colleague, Michelle Hall, with year 10 pupils from Warriner School, Bloxham, on a project called Walking On Eggshells . Commissioned by Oxfordshire Family Mediation Service the project looked at the effects on young people of parental separation. With a staggering 1 in 2 young people aged under 16 affected by this situation, it was a sensitive topic to explore. We were always conscious that we would not always be aware of which participant or audience member had experienced this difficulty nor how this might make them respond but we were able to deliver the project with integrity, humour and hard-hitting moments in the performance piece that was created. The play, devised by the group under our direction, was toured to local primary schools and was followed by a workshop led by the Year 10 pupils themselves.

The group created something special of which they were rightly proud. They grew throughout the two months project, developing their confidence and ability to share, explore and deal with sensitive personal issues. The project was well received by the younger pupils and teachers in the primary schools. The success of the project has meant that we are exploring ways in which it can develop further and be a resource for more schools and young people.

Last Saturday it was a privilege to support another fundraising cause when I participated in Rhythms Of Childhood at the Pitt Rivers Museum organized by LARK (Linking Arms with Rescued Kids) which helps support a children’s rescue centre in Eldoret, Kenya. A great atmosphere was generated with live music, an auction, canapés and wine (not the reason I accepted the invitation, honest!)

I later shared a platform, chaired by Bill Heine, to reminisce about childhood and who or what influenced us. It was amazing how each of the various speakers, including myself, ended up with careers that they had never originally thought of, due to pivotal moments in their childhoods. What mine was is for another blog! but was a reminder that we can’t always ‘map’ out our journey through life. To finish this section of the evening, I performed some of my own performance poetry. Having not done this for a while, I was able to dust off the cobwebs, exorcise the nerves and came away knowing I must do this more often! Thanks to LARK for asking me to participate and hope they raised sufficient funds to make a difference. If you’d like to support this project visit: www.lark.btik.com (my plug not theirs!)