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Create is the charity which empowers lives and enhances well-being through the creative arts. Our focus is on engaging the most marginalised participants in inspiring, sustainable arts programmes in areas where provision is poor and engagement in the arts is therefore low. We prioritise our work with seven participant groups: young and adult carers; young patients; disabled children and adults; schoolchildren in areas of deprivation; vulnerable older people; prisoners and their families; and marginalised children and adults. 

A young carer is someone up to 18 who helps look after a relative or friend who is ill, disabled or misuses drugs. There are an estimated 800,000 young carers in the UK, and the pandemic has hit them hard: 40% say their mental health has deteriorated. 

Abi (who is 14 and who features in the appeal) cares for her older brother who has autism and her younger sister. She supports her mum, a single parent. Create workshops give Abi a rare chance to take time for herself, meet other carers, explore her creativity, and dream.

We know that unleashing creativity ignites imaginations, develops confidence and builds relationships. Like setting off a firework, our artists light the touch paper, and our participants discover newfound self-belief and a desire to try more, do more and be more.