When Lockdown began in March 2020, Kazzum Arts were delivering the peak of our yearly activity, with 15 groups running each week across our 4 major programmes. Our participants, with whom we had been collaborating and co-creating for months, became abruptly unavailable. Grounded at home and isolated from their peers; they were suddenly out of our reach.

During those initial days and weeks of raised blood pressure and sleepless nights, it became imperative to all at Kazzum Arts to work our way back towards social connection with our participants. Our role as the bringers of play, creativity, laughter and joy felt more important than ever; in order to support our community partners and some of the UK's most isolated and excluded young people.

What was required was adaptation to an online practice which embodied our values and unique, trauma-informed approach. What was necessary was the space and time to advance our skills, make changes and understand the unique position that Kazzum could occupy for young people during these stressful and uncertain times.

With generous support from Arts Council England and the City Bridge Trust, we started to research and develop our new approach, providing a weekly space for the practitioners within our team who needed to immediately upskill in the art of delivering safe, containing and creative online workshops for young people. We named the process 'GameJam' - a space for participatory arts practitioners to gather, connect and grow.

Over 8 sessions Kazzum Arts' Artistic Director held the space for 15 professional Artists and Kazzum team members to reflect upon the nuances of facilitating through a screen. Together we adapted our embodied, sensory methods to advance elements of our multidisciplinary approach. We claimed our practice in new forms and structures: checking in/out, guessing games, improvisation, movement, storytelling, visual arts and wellbeing.

Gradually the Gamejams began to reveal the elements that were integral to our approach - emerging week by week as we delivered our projects with young people. Though trial, error, research and development the voices of our young collaborators could be heard within the space again, echoing through laughter, eye contact and social joy.

"The gamejam was the most significant and innovative thing i did during lockdown. It allowed for innovation, free thinking and pure creativity without the constant need to adhere to expectations. It was brilliantly put together and is something that should occur in real life as well as online." -
Arjunan Manuelpillai

As an integral part of the process we wanted to find a unique way of bringing our learning to life - in order to share some of the skills, activities and key professional standards of delivering arts based activities with Children and Young People online. We worked with the incredible illustrator Robin Lane-Roberts, whose process of deep listening, participation and drawing, captured our shared experience and brought our guide to life.

Through this activity we have developed a guide to capture some of the complexities that a facilitator may encounter when holding space for young people online - We are now ready to share it with the world, to benefit individuals and organisations within the youth and arts sectors who could use a little inspiration, professional development or encouragement to know that their work has value and importance in the lives of young people.

“[The GameJam] has been helpful when planning sessions and trying to explain things to other facilitators/project managers/community partners that have not taken part in the jam.”
Jack Pryor

We are offering this Gamejam guide for free to all who need it... A 36 page guide of tips, techniques, practical exercises and professional standards for online arts facilitation. We hope that you will enjoy!

The team at Kazzum would like to thank all the artists involved:

Arjunan Manuelpillai, Amanda Mascarenhas, Caley Holmboe, Camile Dawson, Jack Pryor, Jon Van Beek, Lisa Hayes, Maria Askew, Paul Andrew, Robin Lane-Roberts, Tunde James.

Special thanks to all the young people from our sessions this year who have helped us improve and develop our work through all play, exploration and connectedness.

“I was thinking, ok Zoom, we are not going to have that much fun, it’s not like being in person with someone but no, it was great, I had a lot of fun, it changed my mood so quick from being down.”
Participant on Pathways Programme

If you would like to find out more about our approach or share your experiences of the guide in action, please get in touch: hello@kazzum.org

Let the GameJam begin!!!

You can download our GameJam by clicking below

DownLOAD GAMEJAM