Download or view these useful resources including PDF's, images and videos. If you need anything else including high resolution imagery, interviews with the team or press statements please get in touch.
At the heart of Paper Boat’s approach is a Creative Learning Spiral that shines a light on the 'waypoints' of any creative learning journey.
A short summary of who we are, why we work where we do, how Children’s Hubs respond to the situation for vulnerable children in Tamil Nadu India, and how you could get involved.
The four ‘spheres’ of the Paper Boat model that together make change possible. Read more if you are interested in becoming a collaborative delivery partner, a collaborative development partner, a strategic funding partner or joining the strategic education community.
A one page PDF of the four spheres in our operating model.
Read more about how the 5 C’s of the creativity coalition can bring about real change. As a coalition we hope to inspire Curiosity, Consideration, Commitment, Collaboration and Creativity in order to establish playful and creative learning spaces at the heart of communities through innovative partnerships.
Our project enables young people from marginalised communities to access inclusive learning spaces. Read more about the rationale behind Paper Boat’s ongoing project work, and how you could support hard to reach communities.
You can give online today through our donate page, or click here to download the details to set up direct bank transfers, standing orders or giving via cheque.
Examples of the individuals and organisations who collaborate with us to unlock the infinite potential of every child.
At Paper Boat we are passionate about shaping creative learning spaces at the heart of the hardest to reach communities and have been piloting educational technology in our Children’s Hubs because we understand just how important educational innovation is in the face of unprecedented challenges like the global pandemic.
This short video shows how we are supporting children at the margins with blended online/offline learning whilst schools remain closed during the global coranivirus pandemic.
Our partner’s CEDAR (Centre for Education Development Action and Research) give centre stage to a young community facilitator named Pothum Ponnu, and children from a small hub in Madurai.
In this video Pothum Ponnu shares the meaning of her name, and how stories can take children on a journey.
Children in the urban deprived area of Meenambalpuram in Madurai were invited to see the potential of what something could become, to create something new, and to make a space for themselves in the world.
“Children are given a chance to do something which is forbidden otherwise. They have been taught how to convert their art of scribbling into a painting, creatively. They feel proud to express that they have created their own space”. – Ms. Dhivya, Facilitator of Meenambalpuram CRC –
“The very participation in making their own space brings together and breaks the barriers of caste and religion among children which is prone to happen outside. This space was created along with the children… the choice of colours and designs were mostly done by children, this empowers them, and also creates a feeling that they are creative and the outcome they see is huge. This gives them a very good idea of co-creation”. – Mr. Ponkundram, Creative Lead, CEDAR –
Paper Boat was privileged to work with former BBC World Service journalist Gareth Jones during a visit to Tamil Nadu, India in 2019. As part of the trip Gareth shot a short film giving a lovely insight into our Children’s Hubs – creative learning spaces that enable young people at the margins to connect, play, create and imagine.
The story of Krishna, a young boy who lives in the urban deprived area of Meenambalpuram in Maudrai, and how he loves to fish.
Kuravar tribal communities have been labelled as a ‘criminal caste’ – a phenomenon with its roots in the colonial administration of India – the community is widely seen as ‘criminal or deviant from birth’. Adults are vulnerable to false imprisonment and systematic police abuse; children are labelled deviant in school and experience substantial pressure to drop out.
The video clip above contains a small sample of the many stories that members of Kuravar communities in Tamil Nadu shared with young filmmakers from our partner organisation CEDAR.
This is part of an ongoing collaborative project to release a full documentary with exclusive insights into the lives or Kuravar people in Tamil Nadu.
Irula tribal communities are particularly vulnerable to bonded labour – the most common form of modern slavery which occurs when a person is forced to pay off a debt, often tricked into working for little or no pay and with no control over their debt.
Part of Paper Boat’s mission is to operate ‘through innovative partnerships’, and we have connected with Children Watch, a local NGO that has over many years become a trusted friend to otherwise “invisible communities”, listening carefully to otherwise silenced or unheard voices. This short video shows how Children Watch help to amplify the voice of Irula women, supporting them to be financially independent. Paper Boat believes that you cannot unlock the potential of children if you do not unlock the potential of women.
Nagaraj was a student in CEDAR’s youth programme.
In this video he shares his journey and how the programme not only helped himto succeed in his own life, but also inspired him to pass it forward and reach out to more children.
The headmaster responsible for schools in Kovilpatti speaks about how Children’s Hubs operated through our partner CEDAR are positively impacting children in the region.
Children from the Keelaeral hub share their experiences in the hubs and as part of the Children’s Committee, and what they see for their own futures.