The Sovereign Art Foundation launched a flagship programme, Make It Better, which was designed to be a Hong Kong-based community outreach programme providing children with special educational needs (SEN) living in vulnerable communities, access to the therapeutic benefits of Expressive Arts Therapy (What is Expressive Arts Therapy?). Read on to learn more about the programme and its impact.
How does Make It Better Work?
Make It Better is run by an expert team of registered Art and Expressive Arts Therapists and art facilitators who are experienced in working with young children. We offer a community outreach service, meaning that we carry out our work across various locations across Hong Kong.
01
Children
We support an increase in overall wellbeing and competencies of SEN children, preparing them for mainstream education and increasing their prospects for life beyond school
02
Caregivers and Professionals
We aim to educate and support caregivers and educators of SEN children, reducing their burden and helping them create environments where SEN children can succeed
Our core service comprises a programme of expressive arts therapy group sessions for children aged 4-12, split into Kindergarten and Secondary levels. These groups meet weekly for 12- weeks within school term time. Prior to joining, children’s needs are assessed, and we conduct pre- and post-term evaluations to measure their progress. Our team also holds 1-1 sessions with caregivers to discuss strategies for ongoing support. Caregivers can enroll their children in the programme for up to one academic year.
The overall aim is to provide accessible, sustainable, direct engagement with the children, with a commitment to providing medium-to-long-term support.
Sessions are held within partnering community centres and schools across Hong Kong. Each 12-week programme also includes one group excursion to a local nature reserve. At the end of each term, we celebrate the children’s journey with a graduation ceremony. Exhibitions are also held for the caregivers to attend. Read more about our activities and learning objectives here.
Additionally, we run similar groups for caregivers of SEN children, to educate and promote a culture of peer support amongst participants.
Make It Better also offers individual experiential workshops for children and caregivers within partnering centres and schools, providing them access to therapeutic Expressive Arts in smaller doses and focusing on the short term benefits these activities can bring. These are flexible sessions, tailored to different groups and needs.
We assess the needs of every individual that we work with. If a child is found to have a more complex diagnosed or suspected SEN, we arrange individual consultations for them. We also hold group therapy with their primary caregivers and meetings with their social workers, or teachers to ensure their needs are understood and addressed and if necessary, the proper referrals are sought.
In response to the rising demand for alternative methods of connecting educators to students, especially those with SEN, Make It Better offers expressive arts-based training for teachers and social workers. The training workshops equip them with the skills to incorporate expressive arts into the education setting, enhancing their self-efficacy, teaching efficacy, relationships with their students and better understanding of their client profile so they can address their needs.
The Make It Better team carries out educational and awareness-raising work around the benefits of expressive arts therapy, increasing outreach by running community-based talks and distributing digital and print resources, publications and tools.
We work with a variety of different partners to deliver and scale impact, including other charitable organisations and NGOs, corporate funders, universities, Art and Expressive Arts Therapists, Creative Arts Therapists, museums, galleries and artists. Our core programme is supported by a strong network of partnerships with community centres and schools across Hong Kong.
Our primary beneficiaries are children aged 4-12 from public sector schools across Hong Kong’s most disadvantaged communities. Our focus is helping those with special educational needs (SEN). They are a vulnerable group, requiring extra support, and their number is on the rise. According to a report published by Hong Kong’s Education Bureau (EDB), as of March 2024, there were over 30,000 primary students with SEN in public sector schools (nearly 10% of Hong Kong students overall).
To support these children, the EDB encourages the adoption of a Whole School Approach (WSA), involving early identification, intervention, and cross-sector collaboration to support this population. However, as of 2022, less than 25% of teachers in Hong Kong had received professional training on SEN, significantly below the target of 80%.*
These SEN students experience social, emotional, and behavioural challenges. Their circumstances in life may leave them vulnerable to heightened stress levels, and in many cases, their educational needs may be unsupported. During the Covid-19 pandemic, amidst a lack of specialised resources and support, their academic and social challenges became more acute. Their caregivers often feel overwhelmed and lack support from under-resourced schools and communities.
In addition to the challenges presented by SEN, our beneficiaries face additional difficulties such as economic hardship and stressful home environments, with many living in Hong Kong’s cramped subdivided housing.
Group expressive arts therapy sessions encourage social interaction, teamwork, and empathy, helping children develop essential social skills and fostering connections with peers. Furthermore, expressive arts provide a non-verbal avenue for expressing complex emotions and thoughts, facilitating emotional regulation and coping skills in a supportive environment, particularly for those who struggle with verbal communication.
Expressive Arts activities promote sensory stimulation and fine motor skill development, benefiting children with sensory processing challenges. These activities also enhance cognitive abilities, such as problem-solving, creativity, and memory retention.
Engaging in expressive art activities empowers children, fostering a sense of accomplishment that boosts self-esteem and confidence in both children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and their caregivers.
The process of creating art serves as a calming activity that reduces stress and anxiety for both children and caregivers, encouraging mindfulness and self-exploration. This reflection on feelings and experiences leads to greater emotional resilience and well-being.
After ten years of successfully raising substantial funds for art-led missions supporting children across Asia, SAF decided to establish its own initiative closer to home. This led to the launch of Make It Better, which began as one weekly art session for children in Hong Kong’s Sham Shui Po District in 2013.
Under Tiffany Pinkstone’s stewardship and with the support of advisors from The University of Hong Kong’s Centre on Behavioral Health, Make It Better has grown from a small grassroots project to a substantial programme that provides support and engagement to nearly 200 children, caregivers, and social workers every week across Hong Kong. Through Make It Better, the Foundation employs its own in-house team of professional, registered Art Therapists and facilitators.
We were thrilled to receive sponsorship from our corporate patron, HKR International Limited (HKRI), to co-organise a MIB mural workshop with local artist Karen Pow in February. This initiative was part of HKRI’s corporate social responsibility programme, where their employees volunteered alongside MIB beneficiaries to paint a wall at Buddhist Chi King Primary School in Kowloon Bay.
The collaborative effort resulted in a vibrant mural that features thought-provoking imagery aimed at raising the children’s awareness of environmental issues.
We partnered with the HSBC Foundation as part of their ‘GameChanger’ Programme. Our team of experienced expressive arts therapists led a six-month initiative that included a series of creative workshops for 50 beneficiaries from the Love 21 Foundation, all of whom are members of the Down syndrome and autistic community.
We partnered with Young Soy Gallery to host a workshop for our MIB program beneficiaries, led by Canadian street artist OMACKE. We are thrilled that our beneficiaries had the chance to learn from such a talented artist. To learn more about the event, click the link below.
“My students’ social skills and communication skills have improved significantly; it enables them to explore through experience. MIB is capable of supporting children to develop their potential”
“My child is relatively unmotivated; whenever we bring up schoolwork, she gets irritated and starts disagreeing. Since joining MIB, we communicate more often, and she shares her school life and what she has learned in her MIB lessons”
“This programme supports children to make direct improvements and meets their intrinsic needs, which has a long-term positive impact on their development. This complements the challenge of the centre in providing long-term professional groups’”
Get Involved and FAQ
01Who is the MIB programme open to?MIB is open to children, kindergarten and primary ages diagnosed or suspected SEN – we primarily work with schools and community centres that serve low-income communities in Hong Kong. We also work with the primary caregivers and the professionals at the schools and centres.
02Do you accept volunteers?Absolutely! We love having volunteers on board. You can help out with our various programmes, support partner events, workshops or get involved in material preparation. If you’re from a corporate background, check out our Corporate Patrons page at the link here to learn more!
03How do you recruit your beneficiaries?We recruit our beneficiaries through our partnering schools and centres. If you represent a school and centre and would like to partner with us then we encourage you to get in touch by emailing: mib@sovereignartfoundation.com.
04What qualifications do your staff have?MIB is led by a professional team of Registered Art Therapists and Expressive Arts Therapists who have all completed qualifying Master’s level education as well as extensive supervised clinical experience. Our staff continuously undergo training, and all hold an up-to-date Sexual Conviction Record Check (SCRC).
05How is MIB funded?06I’m a parent. How do I sign my child up for MIB?Contact the social worker or Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) at your child’s school. These individuals are often key contacts for coordinating external programmes and support services. Give the school’s social worker or SENCO the following email address: mib@sovereignartfoundation.com. They can use this to contact the MIB organisers directly to discuss programme implementation within the school.
07Do you offer corporate engagement programmes?We are experienced at working closely with businesses on corporate engagement programmes, including team-building workshops or community service initiatives. If you’re interested, please contact us and let’s brainstorm some ideas!
