Welcome To Kids Kabin!

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Who are we?

We’re an arts centre in Church Walk Shopping Centre in Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne. Kids Kabin has a wide range of creative arts, performing arts and crafts facilities for the use of local young people and schools and community groups.

It is a core aim of Kids Kabin to make activities accessible to all young people and especially to young people most at risk of social exclusion. This group includes those who do not have the opportunity to take part in constructive and creative activities elsewhere. The origins of the Kids Kabin date back to 1993 when the Sisters of the Assumption came to live in Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne. They saw the need for a dedicated project for children, aged 8 - 14, where creative activities would provide interest and enjoyment.

Mission Statement

“Kids Kabin recognises the dignity of every person and aims to contribute to the regeneration of Walker by providing facilities for young people aged 8-16, to discover their talents, enhance their skills and their sense of worth through participation in a creative arts programme in an enjoyable atmosphere.”

Activities

Art Room

In the art room young people are able to use a wide range of materials and are encouraged to expand their imaginations and develop their creativity using new skills and techniques.
The young people are actively encouraged to develop their own ideas and work on projects of their own choice. We provide the materials along with staff and volunteers to help support the young people through their creative process. By allowing such creative freedom we see young people build confidence artistically as well as socially.
As well as encouraging the young people to develop their own ideas, we provide workshops in specialist areas to teach a broader range of techniques and processes.
We aim to help develop and inspire young people creatively by providing them with skills that are not necessarily gained through their school curriculum. A small selection of the activities we offer are listed below:

We offer alternative, creative recreational opportunities that are unique to the area and community. We believe that each young person’s work is of equal value and importance and understand that people are of different levels of ability and confidence. We value the importance of the process and involvement as opposed to a ‘finished’ piece.
By teaching arts and crafts techniques in Kids Kabin we offer young people the opportunity to learn hands on skills. The young people are encouraged to work alongside each other and respect each others’ work, whether it is on an individual basis, or a group project, the work is made to be displayed within Kids Kabin or to be taken home. We believe this process of working helps the young people develop their personal and social skills.
We actively encourage young people to see the value of creating artworks that will be displayed in Kids Kabin and will help promote an inspirational and creative environment for all who attend and visit Kids Kabin.

Computers

In the computer room we focus on activities aimed at encouraging the young people to work creatively on fresh and new design projects, often simply by encouraging them to work on projects related to their own interests. As much as possible we encourage the young people to work together with one another with support from staff and volunteers. We strive to give the participants the opportunity to become designers and creators, not just passive consumers of technology. In the computer room we have the tools, materials, and resources for young people to develop projects in the following areas:

Rather than playing games with computers, young people learn how to use professional software for design, exploration, and experimentation. In the computer room, young people can try for themselves what it is like to be a journalist, artist, composer, scientific researcher, computer programmer, and a wide array of other professions in the modern workplace.
When young people first visit the computer room, they are able to choose among introductory exploration activities, including designing their own t-shirts, mixing and creating their own digital music, experimenting with image processing, and internet exploration. We try to maintain an informal educational approach that encourages participants to discover their interests and apply their own ideas. As they become more comfortable using computers for creative expression participants begin to develop more in-depth projects, either individually or as part of a project team.

Courtyard

Courtyard and Bicycle Repair Club
What is bike repair club?
Kids Kabin has a well equipped bicycle repair workshop. Each Wednesday young people are invited to bring their bicycles and learn how to repair them. If you are interested speak to the Kids Kabin staff and you can sign up for a session.
During half terms and holidays we also run bike trips. So far we have been to Jesmond Dene, Tynemouth and along the river Tyne.
Soon we will be starting 3 courses - basic, intermediate and advanced repair courses. Again if you are interested get in touch and sign up.
History of Bike Club!
“Help, I've got a house full of bikes!” In 1999 the father of one member of Kids Kabin came to us and said just that. So we worked together to set up a bike repair club, and with two volunteers from the University we soon had a regular repair session running. When we moved into the new building, we turned a previous storage shed into a specialist bike repair workshop.
Donations:
We rely very heavily on donations so if you have any old bikes or spare parts we would love to hear from you. And thank you so much to those of you who have helped us out in the past.
Key aim:
To enable young people to achieve an understanding of their bicycle and of the tools and techniques required to maintain it in good working order
Objectives of bike club

Kitchen

Cooking is always a very popular activity...... I wonder why? But we still manage to share out (most of) the food at the end of the day! You're sure to enjoy a culinary treat – From a gooey cake which is a fusion of cookery and art, to a vegetable Christmas tree.
The kitchen is designed as 3 small kitchenettes to allow up to 6 young people to work in the room in pairs. Activities are designed to It’s always a treat for everyone at the end of the session to go to the front door to be greeted with a taste of courgette cake or a fruit salad parcel.
We have also hosted ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’ sessions for teenagers, an Indian Cookery course for a local community group and some truly memorable recipes cooked as part of Walker Technology College’s Memorable Curriculum week!

Music

If you see yourself as a pop idol contestant, dancing alongside a celebrity on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, playing drums at a West African wedding feast or practicing for a career in the movies, then the music room is for you!
There are endless opportunities for all kinds of performance and music making. Activities young people have taken part in include: A great risk and a greater reward -
Kids Kabin’s history has been in visual arts and we noticed that when we started performing arts activities some young people found it difficult to build confidence in such a different area of art. Indeed taking part in a performance is intrinsically a group activity unlike much visual art, which is individual. Young people take time to learn how to develop ideas together, tolerate different abilities within a group and show patience during the creative process. However this is all worth the wait when you see the satisfaction and group cohesion developed through a successful performance. 

Pottery

Young people are able to visit the pottery room and experiment with many different projects either on their own or in a group. They have the freedom to use their own minds and challenge their imaginations to produce three-dimensional work on many different scales and topics.
It provides an ideal environment for young people to explore their creativity and expand their imagination while learning the craft of ceramics. Young people get the chance to use many different tools and processes in the pottery room such as the skill of learning to throw on the wheel, hand build, coil build, slab build and sculpting.
We have a variety of different equipment that participants can use from the electric potter’s wheel to a kiln. We show young people basic skills involved in producing a finished piece from wedging the clay, to producing a fully glazed end result.
Clay is a very energetic and interactive process that enables young people of various levels of age, experience and confidence to work freely. It provides endless opportunities for exploring and learning. A ball of clay can become a cup, a tile or an abstract form. It does not matter which, it’s the process and involvement that is the most important thing. There are many skills that working with clay can enhance such as confidence, patience and tactile exploration, and the development and participation of working with such a medium can be very rewarding.
By encouraging young people to explore their creativity it also aids them in their creative problem solving, pride and can give them a sense of accomplishment. By creating an atmosphere that enables young people to explore their own ideas and create their own work it allows them to develop confidence with the material. Staff and volunteers work closely alongside, helping with ideas and also practical advice, but most of all encouraging creative behaviour.

Woodwork

The woodwork room can accommodate up to five young people at a time, overseen by a project worker and a volunteer. It is equipped with a comprehensive selection of hand-tools suitable for teaching all the basic aspects of carpentry. In sessions, children explore the unique structural qualities of timber and learn to appreciate how it differs from the other materials they are able to use at Kids Kabin – clay, fabric, card etc.
Even the simplest project requires the maker to employ a range of skills that will have a beneficial impact in many areas of their education and personal development: The end result of this complex process is not only a piece of woodwork, but a source of pride and accomplishment for its creator.
Typical produce from the woodwork room includes DVD/video shelves, money boxes, toys and wooden mosaics. We also explore elements of woodcarving such as lettering and three-dimensional sculpture. The children usually work individually, or in pairs, on projects of their own choosing. However, we sometimes encourage teamwork by setting group activities. Throughout the session, the project worker and volunteers aim to facilitate personal expression and maintain a safe working environment.

How To Help

Volunteers at Kids Kabin

Alongside the staff, volunteers play an important role in the running of Kids Kabin. Volunteers support the specialist workers and run the various activities. Most of our volunteers are students from Student Community Action Newcastle and help out one afternoon a week. We run a training weekend at Seahouses in Northumberland and the sessional workers give specialist training in the creative activities. Students find volunteering an enjoyable way of experiencing creative arts and youth work.

Session Times:
Monday – Thursday 3pm-5pm (8-12 yrs)
Monday - Thursday 6pm-9pm (12-16 yrs)

Kids Kabin is an after-school creative arts project based in Walker, in the east of Newcastle. Volunteers help the sessional workers coordinate and evaluate a programme of activities based in one of the six rooms available: pottery, woodwork, arts and crafts, computer, music/drama and cookery. The young people are aged between 8-16 yrs and the volunteers work directly with them to plan, implement and clean up after the activities.

Kids Kabin Activities include: music, drama, textiles, fashion, IT, arts & crafts, ceramics workshop, woodwork & cookery. There is also a bike club which requires volunteers who have an interest in basic bike repair. This is an activity where the local kids can bring their bikes and learn how to carry out basic repairs on them.

All volunteers are offered full training within Kids Kabin. A training residential weekend at the end of October often includes the following workshops: childrens’ behaviour, creativity in Kids Kabin, Health and Safety and Interpreting childrens’ art. The weekend is not compulsory but highly recommended, and according to all volunteers who have previously attended, extremely informative and a whole lot of fun. In addition there are a number of induction and training days run at Kids Kabin throughout the year.
Requirements: Volunteers should enjoy working with children, be interested in creative arts and enjoy getting messy. To sign up for this project you will need to complete a Criminal Record Bureau – you can start on the project whilst this check is being completed.

Contact Us

Location:
Church Walk Shopping Centre,
Church Walk, Walker,
Newcastle upon Tyne UK
NE6 3DL

Project Manager:
William Benson
Tel: 0191 295 3655
email: info@kidskabin.org.uk

Links

Connexions: Tyne & Wear
http://www.connexions-tw.co.uk/index2.asp
Seahouses Community Website
http://www.seahouses.org/community-groups/hostel/
Arpeggio Films
http://www.a-films.co.uk/page5.html
To Your Health
http://www.toyourhealth.org.uk/Default.aspx?textID=2687&cSectionID=6
24 Hour Museum
http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART13219.html
Student Community Action Newcastle
http://www.scan.ncl.ac.uk/
Northumbria University
http://northumbria.ac.uk/sd/central/stud_serv/volunteer/volproject/volchildren/kidskabin/
Assumption Lay Volunteer Programme
http://www.alvp.org.uk/uk.html