CASE STUDY: Finding Freedom Again: How One Young Person Rebuilt Confidence Through Creativity

This case study shows how integrated, structured creative practice within semi‑independent care supported a young person under restriction to rebuild confidence, emotional regulation, and aspiration.

For RS, life didn’t feel open. For a while, he was living under house arrest, with strict curfew conditions and very limited movement. He wasn’t free to come and go as he wanted. His world was reduced to four walls, routines, and time ticking slowly. Like many young people in semi‑independent care, RS wasn’t just managing emotions, he was also managing limitations.

And when a young person’s life becomes smaller, the risk isn’t always chaos. Sometimes the risk is something quieter: frustration, stagnation, disconnection.

That’s where RS was.

Starting Point: Reduced Freedom and Limited Engagement

RS’s support needs were shaped by restriction and reduced independence. During this period, Oasis staff focused on structure, consistency, and positive engagement opportunities that aligned with his care planning.​

The aim wasn’t simply to keep him busy; it was to prevent isolation and provide purposeful support during a challenging period. All activity took place within agreed risk management plans and safeguarding procedures.

The Day the Curfew Lifted

When RS’s curfew was eventually lifted, it wasn’t just a practical change. It was a moment of release, a chance to step outside, to feel air, space, movement. A reminder that life could be wider than a room.

Analdo, a support worker at Oasis Care and one of the creative leads within CEG Creative Studios, didn’t treat that moment like a small detail. He saw it for what it was: an opening.

So instead of leaving RS to drift back into old patterns, he met the moment with something intentional.

They went to the local park. And they flew a drone.

Finding control through the drone

It might sound simple: a young person flying a drone in a park. But for RS, it wasn’t about technology or entertainment. It was about control, something many young people in care rarely feel they have.​

Analdo describes it clearly: RS loved it because he could control something. He wasn’t being controlled. He wasn’t being watched or told what to do.

He was steering something of his own. And that mattered.

“He said he was able to see control on certain things,” Analdo explains. “He had the freedom to do it.”

It wasn’t just fun. It was therapeutic.

Because for the first time in a long time, RS wasn’t just stuck inside.

Why This Worked: Therapeutic Engagement Through Activity

This simple activity supported RS in a way that was both practical and emotionally meaningful. It encouraged focus, responsibility, and calmness, while giving him a positive outlet during a key transition period.

Importantly, the session was supervised and structured, ensuring RS was supported safely while experiencing a controlled sense of independence. This approach aligned with trauma‑informed practice by prioritising safety, predictability, and choice, while grounding RS in an activity that supported emotional regulation.

The Quiet Power of Perspective

A drone changes the way you see the world. You’re on the ground, but you’re looking down from above. Streets look smaller. Buildings look softer. Everything feels less tight.

Maybe that’s why it worked, not because RS needed a hobby, but because he needed space, even if it was borrowed through a screen.

This wasn’t about distraction. It was about grounding.

A way to step out of his own head and into something calm, focused, and real.

And something else happened that day, too. The drone sparked curiosity.

Analdo noticed RS becoming more interested in media, in the equipment, in the process. He started to see that RS didn’t just enjoy flying, he enjoyed creating.

And that’s where the next stage began.

From Drone to Music: Responsive Support Planning

Creative engagement became a tailored response to RS’s interests. Oasis Care and CEG Creative Studios worked collaboratively to build on RS’s strengths and introduce a structured, therapeutic activity that could develop over time.

After the drone session, Analdo began thinking about what RS needed next. It wasn’t enough to give him a moment of freedom; the bigger goal was to give him something sustainable. Something he could return to. Something that could grow.

Freedom had sparked expression.

Now that expression needed a form.

So Analdo brought in extra support: a qualified practitioner named Wade Taylor, connected through Analdo’s creative network. Wade was brought in intentionally and appropriately, with sessions delivered under safeguarding expectations and good practice.

Together, they began music sessions with RS. Not as a gimmick. Not as entertainment. As a tool.

Writing Bars, Writing Truth

For RS, music became more than sound. It became a place to put things he didn’t know how to say out loud. The sessions focused on writing, showing RS how to structure bars, how to express himself, how to turn experience into words.

“It was therapeutic for him,” Analdo says. “Because he was able to write certain things when it came to his experiences.”

Some young people in care carry their experiences quietly. It shows up in behaviour, mood, and frustration, but rarely in a conversation.

Music gives it somewhere to go.

RS wasn’t just learning to write lyrics. He was learning to translate his life into language.

And that changes a person.

Structure Becomes Stability

Creative work doesn’t just build talent. It builds structure.

Writing bars means learning to:

• sequence thoughts

• stay focused

• stick with an idea

• control emotion through rhythm

• finish something you started

For a young person who has experienced restriction and instability, that kind of structure becomes more than skill; it becomes a quiet form of stability.​

This helped RS build confidence and routine while developing a healthier outlet for expression.

From engagement to future pathways: studio, DJing, and a future

The sessions were only the start.

Analdo’s vision for RS wasn’t limited to writing at home. The next step was about giving RS a real experience of what creative life could look like beyond the care setting.​

The plan was to take him into a professional studio environment so he could record properly, not just on entry‑level equipment.

So, he could hear his voice differently.

So, he could see himself differently.

There were also plans for DJ sessions, introducing RS to mixing, listening, and building a sound that felt like his.

This work was designed to provide RS with positive pathways, support aspiration, and develop vocational interest. It demonstrated how creative partnerships can move from short‑term engagement to longer‑term skill‑building and progression routes.

Outcomes and Impact: What Changed for RS

Through structured creative engagement and consistent relationship‑based support, RS experienced:

• Increased confidence and motivation, shown through his willingness to engage regularly in creative sessions.

• Improved engagement in positive activity, including consistent attendance at creative music sessions.

• Greater emotional expression through music writing and lyric‑based work.

• Increased sense of control following restriction periods, reflected in the way he spoke about choice and agency.

• Improved well‑being through outdoor activity and creative focus.

• Exposure to vocational opportunities and skill development in music, media, and DJing.

For example, RS moved from rarely engaging in structured activities to consistently attending weekly music sessions and exploring opportunities to record and DJ.

What began as engagement evolved into a meaningful pathway for personal growth.

Why This Approach Worked

Analdo doesn’t overcomplicate the reason.

“All we were trying to do was preoccupy him,” he says. “Because he was under house arrest.”

But the truth is, it became more than that.

Preoccupation became therapy.

Freedom became trust.

Creativity became expression.

RS didn’t just need to be kept busy. He needed to feel in control of something. He needed to feel like his life could still move forward. And the creative work gave him that.

This case demonstrates how person‑centred, interest‑led activity, delivered within clear boundaries and safeguarding, can sit alongside statutory care plans to support emotional regulation, engagement, and aspiration.

Conclusion: Creativity That Belongs in Care

RS’s story reflects the ethos of Oasis Care and CEG Creative Studios working together: person‑centred, relationship‑led support that is both emotionally intelligent and practically structured. RS’s story isn’t really about a drone. It’s about what that drone represented.

Control.

Perspective.

Freedom.

When a young person starts experiencing those things again, even in small moments, something opens. Not with a massive intervention, but with one moment that gives someone a different view of themselves. A different angle. A different horizon, and the sense that those horizons are theirs to move toward.

What this shows for commissioners and professionals:

• Creative, interest‑led activities can support emotional regulation and reduce isolation during restriction periods.

• Relationship‑based work and continuity of staff are key to turning simple “preoccupation” into meaningful therapeutic engagement.

• Partnerships with creative practitioners can create vocational pathways and future‑focused opportunities for young people in semi‑independent care.