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Impact Arts is delighted to announce that their Fab Pad Renfrewshire project was highly commended in partnership with Renfrewshire Council’s Throughcare service. The organisations won the ‘Innovative Partnership’ Award at a ceremony on 12.06.13.

Impact Arts were running a live two-day up-cycle as part of the CELSIS Resource Centre Exhibition and Awards Ceremony that took place at the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow on 12th and 13th of June. The conference provided a venue to discuss and debate important local, national and international perspectives on some of the most creative and exciting aspects of contemporary residential child care practice. Impact Arts were showcasing their partnership work with Renfrewshire Council’s Throughcare Service. Through this partnership Impact Arts provide their Fab Pad project to young care leavers who are about to gain their first tenancy.

Fab Pad was set up in 1998 by Impact Arts as an innovative youth housing project. It is a proven method of reducing youth homelessness and youth unemployment. Working with young people who have gained a new tenancy or are at risk of homelessness, interior designers teach essential skills such as sewing, decorating, basic DIY and interior design. This enables young people to transform their house into a home, and helps them develop a sense of ownership and pride which reduces anti-social behaviour and tenancy breakdown. Participants join a local workshop where they work one-to-one with our fully qualified tutors and gain a support network of peers. Alongside a host of technical skills, young tenants also learn transferable skills which enable them to progress in other areas of their lives. SROI documentation suggests that for every £1 invested in Fab Pad there is a social return of £8.38.

Lynne Carr, CEO Impact Arts said:

“We were really pleased with how the ‘Drab to Fab’ live upcycle went, and are delighted to have been highly commended in the Innovative Partnership category with Renfrewshire Throughcare. I would like to give a big thanks to all of our talented staff who were involved in the project, Lynne, Alison and Kirsty. Well done for your hard work ladies! Hopefully the live up-cycle gave people a chance to learn more about the Fab Pad project and to see first-hand how effective it is in engaging young care leavers and enabling them to turn their house into a home.”