Creative Pathways programme continues to make a difference at Alder Hey
Alder Hey Children’s Charity is committed to creating magical experiences for the 450,000 children and young people who use Alder Hey’s services every single year. Our nationally renowned Arts for Health run life-changing creative sessions across our hospital each and every day, which make a profound difference to patients and their families.
Twelve-year-old Emma has been receiving dialysis treatment at Alder Hey for the past two years, making the 90-mile journey from the Isle of Man to Liverpool three times per week, resulting in tiresome 18-hour days for both Emma and her mum, Gillian.
For the past six weeks, Emma has been receiving weekly one-to-one creative art sessions with Catherine Rogers, one of our Arts for Health visual artists. Catherine has been delivering fun and imaginative sessions with Emma, centred around building her confidence and wellbeing through art. Over the course of their sessions, Emma and Catherine have been working together to bring Emma’s imagination to life, using colour, paints, crafts, and glitter to create a magical Winter Wonderland, complete with lollipops, bumblebees and horses with wings.
These sessions have been made possible thanks to support from Alder Hey Children’s Charity, and generous funding from Arts Council England through the Creative Pathways programme, which our Arts for Health team have been running at Alder Hey since March 2023. Creative Pathways provides interactive one-to-one ward-based sessions for long-term patients at Alder Hey. Through working with artists and organisations from a variety of creative mediums such as art, dance, and music among others, the Arts for Health team are very proud to put together a crucial programme of creative-based learning that puts children and young people at the centre of creativity and wellbeing.
Before Emma began her sessions with Catherine, she found hospital life difficult. The long hours and unfamiliar environment meant that she was prone to boredom and frustration, and reluctant to engage during her dialysis sessions. However, since beginning her Creative Pathways journey with Catherine, Emma has progressed through leaps and bounds in her confidence, imagination, and communication.
Speaking to us during one of her weekly sessions, Emma’s mum Gillian said: “Emma adores Catherine and really looks forward to their sessions every week. In a really short period of time, I’ve noticed such an improvement in her imagination and development skills.” When asked if Catherine’s arrival on the ward is a good time for Gillian to go and grab a cup of tea and have a moment to herself, she said: “I prefer to stay and watch. It’s so nice to see them joke together. Having the time to sit back and see my daughter enjoying herself despite the circumstances is such a heartening thing to be a part of.”
The sessions have also had an impact on Emma outside of the hospital too, with Gillian telling us: “I’ve been trying to get her into art rather than playing with her younger toys at home, and she has been more keen to do so than she was before her sessions with Catherine.” For Emma, these sessions are the highlight of her time at Alder Hey. When we asked her what her favourite part of the session was, she simply told us: “Everything!”.
In such a short period of time, Emma and Catherine have built such an infectious bond and connection, which is a testament to the patient-led structure of the Creative Pathways programme. By giving children and young people the freedom to explore their own creative interests and passions, their increased engagement and interest results in the sessions becoming much more beneficial for both the patient and the facilitator. In just six weeks, Emma has forged new worlds, invented new animals, and created new colours; all whilst making a real and noticeable progress in her developmental and communication skills.
