Artswork’s Young Cultural Changemakers programme is supported using public funding from Arts Council England.
30 April 2026
Do you understand care?
In ‘Do You Understand Care?’, made in association with the Isle of Wight Virtual School, five children use their personal perspective to challenge adult perceptions of the foster care system through interviews with social workers and each other.
During nine weekly workshops the children developed the themes; wrote interview questions; conducted interviews; drew avatars of themselves, social workers and teachers that were animated using AI and puppetry; and developed skills using camera and sound equipment.
Audience feedback described the film as ‘moving’, ‘informative’, ‘insightful’, ‘honest’ and ‘powerful’.
You asked 'can you hear us?' - the answer is yes, we heard you. Thank you for being so brave, sharing your stories and speaking on behalf of all children in care - you help us understand your experiences.
“It’s important that the young people have a voice and working on a project that the subject was chosen by them and allowed to develop over a period of time gives that them that opportunity in a non-formal way” – Foster Carer
“It will make children feel empowered and give them unique experiences as well as allowing them to connect with other young people that have experienced similar things.” – Ruby Farmer, LAC Coordinator, Lift Ryde
This film was made by young people from the Isle of Wight Virtual School working with filmmaker Bruce Webb as part of Artswork’s Young Cultural Changemakers programme for the Listen Up! film festival.
Puppet sequences by Holly Winter.
GETTING YOUNG VOICES HEARD
Listen Up! is Artswork’s youth-led filmmaking programme, working with seven different groups of young people and starting with the provocative question: ‘If adults were listening, what would you tell them?’
The six films that will be made as part of this project will feature in Listen Up!, a touring festival of youth-led films in October 2026, part of CAN YOU HEAR US?, Creative Island’s six-week celebration of creativity and culture taking place across the Isle of Wight in autumn 2026.