It was a natural development for us to create a safe meaningful space for many of the young people who grew in our projects. Our retreats followed decades of being acutely aware of the huge, often insurmountable challenges faced by young people upon leaving care.

Care leavers retreats are created in collaboration with artists and care leavers.  We explore what it means to create for ourselves a sense of being in a place, connecting to nature through image-making and poetic words. Care leavers have the time and space to explore their own experiences and work to develop a way of expressing their sense of location and dislocation using a range of creative media.  Care leavers are supported to find ways of working and connecting together, and encouraged to develop their own support networks.

Through Creative Connections, we are able to proudly offer a week-long, often life-transforming creative retreat, working with brilliant empathic artists, creative therapists and yoga teachers. The retreats are hosted at the wonderful Arvon Foundation’s timeless centres of excellence in the rural hidden landscapes of Devon and Yorkshire, allowing for a unique opportunity to reconnect with nature and self-reflect.