Bristol researchers help disadvantaged local families make their voices heard through power of art

(Left to right) Muna Hussein, Jazlyn Pinckney, Sharon Evans, and Jude Hutchen, who were involved in the community project, next to the one of the billboards in Bristol displaying artwork by Lucy Turner. Jazlyn Pinckney

(Left to right) Josie McLellan, Jazlyn Pinckney, Muna Hussein, Sharon Evans, Jude Hutchen, who were involved in the community project, next to one of the campaign billboards in Bristol. Jazlyn Pinckney

Press release issued: 20 October 2022

A community initiative supported by the University of Bristol working with families from one of the most deprived areas in the region has resulted in a new campaign calling for parents’ experience and expertise to be more valued and their voices to be better heard.

A series of posters and billboards have been posted across the city to raise awareness of the challenges facing families in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the biggest cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

“I never thought I’d have to struggle so hard for my children,” and “We shouldn’t have to shout to be heard,” are amongst the comments made by a group of mothers to feature on the artwork, which will be on display for the next fortnight.

More than 30 mothers disproportionately affected by the pandemic from the Wellspring Settlement in Barton Hill came together through the Creative Connections project. Art was an activity to help them express their experiences, provide mutual support, and influence decisions to help parents in future.

Local artist Lucy Turner created the artwork in collaboration with Rising Arts Agency to bring to life their feedback.

Feedback from the group has also been harnessed to form a policy paper calling for a range of changes to improve everyday life for struggling families. The paper focuses on the need to value parents as experts and listen to their experiences and needs. It makes various recommendations, including to make it easier for parents to communicate with schools, to provide more support for children with special educational needs or disability, to be able to share experiences with other parents, and to have access to suitable childcare.

Community art researcher Sharon Evans, a single parent from Hartcliffe, shared a personal experience illustrating the campaign slogan: “We Shouldn’t Have To Shout To Be Heard.”

She said: “It comes from the feeling you have to fight for everything these days. My son has autism but it took ages for this to be fully diagnosed. I knew there was something different early on and services are supposed to help, but it’s so demoralising when you have to wait years to move forward. All the phone calls and long forms are so time-consuming it’s exhausting and hard to cope.

“It takes months to see someone and then they say you have to see someone else. It’s so stressful and frustrating, and often you don’t get anywhere. It shouldn’t have to be like this.”

Project policy lead Dr Hannah Charnock, Lecturer in Modern British History from the University of Bristol, said: “It was very clear from the groups that parents’ own expertise regarding their children’s wellbeing was not recognised or taken seriously.

“As one mother put it: ‘Being her mum is not burdensome but not having an outlet for me to ask for support has been horrible.’ The policy paper which will be circulated to local statutory and third sector decision makers in health, schools and social support services highlights that parents should be considered equal partners in decisions that are made around their children.”

Many of the mothers reported that multiple factors stacked up on top of them, leaving them feeling hopeless and powerless, and with little opportunity to improve their circumstances for their children. A common theme was that the pandemic exacerbated any struggles they were already facing – a problem likely to worsen as the cost of living crisis deepens.

Jude Hutchen, Art Research Co-ordinator at the Wellspring Settlement, said: “We knew from working with community researchers at the start of the pandemic how hard things were for many families. We’re hopeful the voices of the mums who took part in this project will be heard and lessons will be learned as we move into different but equally challenging times. The project gave mothers a creative and supportive space, but projects like this cannot fill the gaps that policy leaves.

“What we need is systemic change to how parents are supported and who better to influence this change than the parents themselves? We want decision makers to listen and to prioritise those families who are most at risk due to structural inequalities.”

The project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, is also supporting related local events to help get families’ voices heard this month including the Bristol Women’s Commission – A Caring Economy for Bristol meeting on 17 October and the March of the Mummies 2022 in Bristol on 29 October.