Aaron is one our Story of Care Ambassadors, he is a 20 year old care-leaver and has written The Weight of the World as part of our #RealStoriesOfCare campaign. It is the result of a series of 1-2-1 workshops. Here is what he has to say about the piece:

Children and young people have such a unique innocence about them that leaves them so vulnerable to the world and all its perils. I wrote this piece to remind people of this. To remind them that no matter the background, a child is a child, and so as both individuals and whole bodies we should be doing our most to be protecting that innocence, not exposing them to all of the judgements, criticisms, and expectations of adult life.

When I started creating it, I had only written a few notes and dabbled with a few ideas the day before after having a chat about the topic and I hadn’t come up with much to go on. A few nights later I couldn’t sleep and it was three in the morning and I had a feeling to start writing and get something written down properly. I went off on a limb and started typing what I felt was right and half an hour later I had a full poem. When I woke up I sent it to Rebecca (Youth Engagement Coordinator, Coram) and she recommended I make a video play alongside the poem. I had the idea to use specific images and video clips to try and encourage certain feelings within viewers at certain parts of the poem. This was done to enhance their connection between themselves, the boy in the poem, and the messages within the poem itself.

The process came very naturally. I was given plenty of resources and ideas to work with, and because the whole project is centered around something that hits so close to home for me I’ve been really passionate about making something that inspires others to reconsider their actions and feelings towards certain people.

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