Our Participants
Very often people affected by drug use are seen in a negative light. Those who might look ill as a result of their drug use or related illnesses can suffer prejudice and tend to be perceived and treated as a nuisance. They are automatically stigmatised and blamed for most of the crime in an area and are excluded from involvement in social and cultural activities.
These attitudes perpetuate a general tendency to identify those affected by drug use as the scapegoat for an enormous range of unconnected problems. This has the effect of excluding them from opportunities to engage in cultural activity, self development and behaviour that can be seen by others in society as positive. Our purpose in RADE is to change this.
Our participants come to us from all over Dublin and are representative of gender and adult age group. They come to us from a variety of back grounds, levels of addiction and illness. Participants are not required to be on a drug maintenance programme, but they must be seeking to address they drug use. Nor are participants expected to be good at art, drama or creative writing. RADE is not about producing artists, but about using art as an alternative to drug use and to help them engage with their drug use.
We are not about curing people, but helping people regain some control over their lives. In addition to the workshops, RADE has a project worker who works on a one to one basis with each of the participants. The project worker, engages with each individual participant and with other professional supports such as doctors, keyworkers, social workers, etc. The Project worker will work with each participant to ensure that they get the most they can from the RADE programme, that they engage with their drug use and other related issues such as homelessness.
Methods
We strongly believe on the value of direct interaction between artists and our participants, and we are committed to continuing this approach. We also value group work as an effective model for delivering our training and development programmes. Our aim is to create a climate of creativity that is conducive to learning. We find that this method works well and has immediate beneficial consequences in so far as the participant becomes part of a creative exploration that is facilitated by a professional artist.
It is a pragmatic involvement that offers insights for both the artist and participant. Becoming part of the professionally-assisted creative experience results in a positive outcome for participants. Their personal confidence increases as does their ability to create and perform; this in turn helps in developing improved self awareness and inner belief and these are vitally important to the success of our work with our participants.
