Callout: 2 artists to work with young people in Wigan
Curious Minds is working with Wigan Council to better understand what it is like for children and young people living in Wigan.
We are looking for 2 artists who can work with groups of young people to encourage them to share their views using fun, creative, inclusive and participatory activities.
The work will be undertaken with groups that already exist, for example, those accessing the Wigan Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme. Curious Minds will identify and liaise with those groups to agree appropriate dates and times.
The fee is £1250 equating to approximately 5 days work including time for planning, delivery and evaluation.
Who we are looking for
Curious Minds is looking for 2 artists to take part in this exciting project working with young people who are accessing activities in the community during Summer 2025.
Please respond with a CV and cover letter explaining your initial thoughts including:
- Who you are.
- How you think you could deliver the brief.
- What kind of creative response you think you would produce.
For accessibility, we are happy to receive this as a video or audio file.
The deadline for applications is 5pm, Friday, 15th August 2025.
Please send to steph.hawke@curiousminds.org.uk
Background
Between now and the end of summer 2025, Curious Minds has been asked to run creative, hands-on sessions with children and young people in Wigan.
The aim is to listen to children and young people’s experiences; we want to understand what helps them to stay healthy and happy, and what gets in the way.
We’re looking for creative practitioners to deliver this work in ways that are fun, creative, engaging and meaningful for the young people involved.
The insights gathered will help local health and care services understand what children and young people need, and feed into future plans to reduce health inequalities across Wigan.
The creative ‘listening exercise’ will sit alongside data that Wigan Council has already gathered through more formal research (namely the Children’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment – more information below).
Outputs
- A creative response to the chosen themes from young people (this can be co-created with the artist)
- This can be in any artform, providing there is a way to represent that work in a final report
- A reflection from the artist, in words, video or audio file, summarising what was heard during the session (topics, quotes, vignettes etc)
Joint strategic needs assessment
This is a report produced by local councils and health services (usually through the Health and Wellbeing Board) that:
- Brings together data and evidence about children’s health, education, care and social circumstances
- Identifies key needs and challenges affecting children and young people in the area
- Highlights inequalities, such as differences in health outcomes between different communities or groups
- Informs strategic planning, helping services decide where to focus resources and how to design support that meets local needs.
In this case, Wigan Council has already collected quantitative (numerical) data through the Children’s JSNA. The creative listening you’re doing will add rich, qualitative insights from children and young people themselves, giving voice to their real-life experiences and helping decision-makers understand the ‘why’ behind the numbers.
There are eight key areas that we want to explore, and sessions can focus in on one or two of the themes. Prompts have been suggested, and we are keen to explore alternative ways of framing these discussions.
The key areas we have been asked to find out about are:
- Your neighbourhood: What do you love about where you live? What would make it even better for you and your friends? Tell us about what you do there? Who do you do that with?
- Food and feeling well: What helps you to eat well and feel healthy? What gets in the way? Is the amount of sleep you get normally enough for you to feel awake and concentrate? Where do you get help if you are poorly?
- Getting around: How do you travel to places like school, clubs, or friends' houses? What helps you to get where you need to go?
- Learning and education: What’s great about your school, college, or learning at home? What would help you learn and grow even more?
- Support and wellbeing: Who do you talk to when you’re feeling sad, worried or unwell? What makes it easier (or harder) to get help? If you had just moved to Wigan what would be the most help?
- Family and home life: What makes you feel safe and cared for at home? What matters most to you there? Would money struggles make things harder?
- Friendship and safety: Do you feel safe and respected in your friendships, school, and neighbourhood? What helps you feel included? How would you get help if something was up?
- Fairness and respect: Do you feel like your needs and ideas are listened to? What helps you feel things are fair and unfair? What do you feel proud of?