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Photos of a renovated church inside and out

Co-designed Animations

Co-designed by children with artists

The Bridge Video 1 of 3

Australian first – addressing the link between excessive gaming and future gambling harm with children.

Until this time government agencies have been nervous to approach the topic with children for fear of encouraging gambling, even though there is evidence that children as young as 12 are already gambling.

This program consists of 4 modules – each one with with an animation, conversation starters, and visual and theatre arts activities to celebrate the joys of gaming and to explore the potential risks.

KIND

Songwriting for Cultural Empathy.

The lyrics are actual words spoken, then shaped and reshaped by children from grades 1-6 (ages 6-12).

Songwriting & Performance for Personal and Community Change

Using the combination of a lead artist, a cultural conversation facilitator and content specialist, the Kids Thrive team leads activities and conversations around a devised curriculum to address the concerns of the school – violence, racism…

The lyrics are drawn verbatim from the cultural conversations and activities, shaped into lyric form with the children, and refined over and over again until each verse and chorus team is satisfied that its edits reflect the depth of meaning and intention in the song. Children as songwriters compose with the intention of changing attitudes and behaviours for the better.

KIND – Songwriting for Cultural Empathy

Exploring the many faces of the issue of racism,  and writing and performing songs to change the blocks to belonging both within the school and out in the community.

Kids Thrive was invited to Hume to help address the playing out of historical conflict between Caldean Christians and Muslims from Iraq in the schoolyards and carparks at pickup time.

Banyule Kids Thrive – Songwriting for Social Emotional Learning

The foundation project of Kids Thrive in West Heidelberg. Kids Thrive was invited in to help the local community address an escalation in violence.

After a short time in the 3 schools it became clear that what was needed was a back to basics -Social and Emotional Learning; emotional literacy to enable more self-regulation and expression that would lessen the need to strike out.

Partnering with Banyule Community Health, Austin Hospital Child and Adolescent Mental Health unity, Berry Street and CPS, this program formed the foundations and methodology of trauma informed work for Kids Thrive.

Arts for social change

Using arts as the process by which children address the entrenched issues in their local communities, change happens, edges soften, people come together more easefully.

This process creates not so much creative  “wow’ moments, as life defining moments through creative processes that lead to taking action.

Children form teams around issues they care about, find a community partner already addressing that issue, then together they co-design and co-deliver a community action to make a difference.

There are 2 versions – KiCArts results in a community arts piece /event; Kids as catalysts results in a community action with hands-on volunteering.

KiCArts

Each team and a Kids Thrive artist and Conversation Facilitator collaborates with children to create a community arts piece to educate and raise the community’s awareness of  the issue the team cares about.

This is, if you can imagine, the junior Community Cultural Development Artists training course for future creative activists and community artists.

Kids as Catalysts

Award-winning creative leadership and resilience program, Kids as Catalysts empowers children to be catalysts for good in their local communities. Rehearsing skills, then enacting them empowers children to take the lead in community conversations and social change.

This program uses a theatre rehearsal and creative development arc – exploration of subject matter, development of ensemble, design, scripting and pitching for funding, then ‘performing’ the community action together.

After this a community Showcase Expo is used as a community engagement platform to change the narrative within vulnerable communities. Children take the lead in changing the narrative of disempowerment.

Annual Reports

Including the Kids Thrive story, photos and finances

Income average for 2018-2020

2018 = $658,318 

2019 = $700,511 

2020 = $941,678 

Average across these 3 years = $766,835

2020 Annual Report

2019 Annual Report

2017 Annual Report

Evaluations

Here are 2 critical evaluations from over 12 undertaken on the efficacy of Kids Thrive arts for social change programs

Child Led Community Change

Strategy Evaluation Report

Kids as Catalyst, Geelong

Geelong Kids as Catalyst Evaluation Report 2019

Kids Thrive.