A talented group of young carers performed original music at Chelsea Arts Festival last weekend, as part of a partnership between the festival and national creative arts charity Create.
The young carers from Lambeth and Wandsworth performed live in Sloane Square on Saturday 19 September, presenting music they had written and developed together during a series of creative workshops over the summer specially for the Festival.
Create was the official charity partner of Chelsea Arts Festival 2026, which took place from 16-20 September, bringing together leading artists, writers, performers and thinkers alongside a programme of free outdoor performances.
Create’s creative arts programme for young carers, inspired:arts, gave the young people the opportunity to write and perform their own songs.
Led by professional Create musicians Joe and Lydia, the young carers from Lambeth and Wandsworth came together for three days of workshops in August. They explored percussion and songwriting before creating original music inspired by friendship and belonging.
Participants named “learning new instruments”, “writing songs about who I am” and “making new friends” among the highlights of the project.
“I really loved making the music with everyone, improvising all the words, the lyrics. It was just so fun. I learnt that you can freestyle whatever lyrics you want. I’ve met a few new people and it feels like I’ve had a chance to connect. [Being creative] felt nice and very different to what I’m used to. [Projects like these] help young carers open up and meet new people.” – Samuel, Young Carer
“The fact that [my daughter] was able to join [a project] like this, I think it’s gonna skyrocket her confidence. It already has. It’s enabled her to integrate with other people. And I believe it’s given her a little more purpose and exposed her to things that might spark a creative idea in her mind as to what else she might want to do [in the future].” – Parent of Young Carer
Young carers are children and young people who help care for someone they love, such as a parent or sibling living with illness, disability, mental health challenges or addiction. Create’s projects give young carers dedicated time to focus on themselves, express themselves creatively, develop new skills and meet other young people with shared experiences.
The project culminated in three live performances at Chelsea Arts Festival, giving participants the opportunity to share their work with the public and celebrate what they had achieved.
Nicky Goulder MBE, Founding Chief Executive of Create, said:
“We believe that access to creativity is a fundamental right, not a privilege. It was wonderful to see these young people take to the stage and share something they had created themselves. Our partnership with Chelsea Arts Festival enables us to bring our participants into a wider celebration of the arts while raising awareness of why access to creativity matters.”
Create also contributed to the festival’s programme on Friday 18 September, when Goulder introduced a fascinating conversation at Saatchi Gallery between Professor Daisy Fancourt and writer Emma Gannon exploring creativity, health and wellbeing.
Create has been bringing professional creative arts experiences to children and adults facing challenges in their lives since 2003. Earlier this year, the charity worked with its 50,000th participant.
