Supporting young people's mental wellbeing
We spoke to Dance Action Zone Leeds (DAZL) about how they reached out to their members and helped them look out for their mental health during Covid-19 lockdowns.
The video begins with a blank white screen. The screen changes to dark blue with the words ‘Buddle talks to’ displayed in white text in the middle. The screen then transitions to dark pink and the text changes to ‘Dance Action Zone Leeds’. The screen transitions to orange, and the text changes to say ‘about how they are reaching out to their members and helping them look out for their mental health during lockdown’. There is generic instrumental music playing in the background which continues throughout the video.
The screen changes to show a young girl sitting in her home in front of the camera. She is wearing a yellow t-shirt with the Dance Action Zone Leeds (DAZL) logo on it. Behind her, a vase with metal flowers can be seen. A caption appears in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen to introduce her as Aimee Mulvey, a DAZL participant. As Aimee speaks, subtitles appear at the bottom of the screen. These continue throughout the video as different people are talking.
Aimee says: During lockdown I’ve felt tired, worn-out, my mental health wasn’t my best.
The screen changes to show a different young girl also wearing a yellow DAZL t-shirt. She is sat on a sofa. A caption in the bottom left of the screen introduces her as Madison Emmonds, another DAZL participant.
Madison says: Very low because I’ve not been able to see my friends and I’ve not been able to get out.
The shot changes to show a different young girl wearing a red t-shirt with the DAZL logo. A caption in the bottom left of the screen introduces her as Emma Millar, another DAZL participant.
Emma says: Life has changed during lockdown because I haven’t been able to interact with other people other than my family.
The video changes to show a different young girl, sitting on the same sofa Madison was shown on. A caption in the bottom left of the screen introduces her as Kaci Emmonds, another DAZL participant. She is wearing a black DAZL sweatshirt.
Kaci says: Deflated, that would be my main word.
The shot changes to show a man who is sat in his home. He in a black sweatshirt with the DAZL logo printed in rainbow colours on the front. Behind the man, a glass door into a garden can be seen. There is also a plant to the left of him. A caption in the bottom left of the screen introduces him as Ian Rodley, DAZL Director.
Ian says: The key challenges that we’ve had to face whilst Covid-19 is going on is just getting our young people online, keeping them motivated to want to do physical activity, to want to stay connected.
The video changes to show footage of an online activity session delivered by DAZL. Onscreen, a man wearing a cap and a red t-shirt can be seen sat in a kitchen. The man is talking to the camera and leading an online dance class. Behind him a young girl walks past the camera and out of shot to his left, she is smiling as she walks.
The man onscreen says: Yes, are we okay? Give me a thumbs up if we are doing alright! Let’s try it.
An upbeat backing track starts playing in the background. The man is smiling as he speaks and gives a thumbs up sign. The video then shows an online meeting screen filled with young people, both male and female, taking part in the online class as dance instructions can be heard faintly in the background.
A male voice says: We are definitely trying to keep supporting our people and participants throughout this time and we do that by obviously when we're having the lives [live sessions] we’re engaging them within physical activity constantly and hoping not only does this improve their physical activity but also their mental health and wellbeing as well.
As the male voice is speaking, the shot changes to one of the participants, a young girl dancing in a room with framed photos behind her. The video changes to show a second participant, a young girl dancing in a room with a grey tiled wall, before the video reverts to show the screen of the dancers in the online class.
The shot changes and we are introduced to the male speaking. It is the man shown previously leading the online dance session. A caption in the bottom left of the screen introduces him as Mason Jubb, DAZL Head Coach. Mason is sat in his garden, with trees and a grey garden fence visible in the background. He is wearing a green t-shirt with an unzipped black hoodie over the top, and he has a baseball cap on.
As Mason finishes speaking, the video changes to show a girl starting a dance sequence. She is in a living room, with a sofa behind her and framed pictures on the wall.
A girl’s voiceover: I am quite an active person and just being able to get up and do some activity has made my whole aura a lot better.
Five short clips are shown of other girls all continuing the same dance sequence in their own homes, one after the other. The video then changes to show the girl that is speaking. It is Kaci Emmonds, as seen earlier in the video.
The video changes to show Aimee Mulvey speaking to the camera, in the same room as shown previously.
Aimee says: With my mental health not being great in lockdown, being able to see how happy everyone is, it just obviously reassures me and I’m like, yeah, everyone else is happy and it's fine.
As she speaks, the video shows the online meeting screen filled with young people, both male and female, taking part in the online dance class, before reverting to show Aimee in her home.
The video changes to shows the Dance Action Zone Leeds Facebook page. On the left are information headers directing the viewer to a list of sub-sections including ‘Home’, ‘About’ and ‘Events’. To the right of those headers, a Facebook post from DAZL is shown. The post says: ‘Our DAZL Diamonds have been hard at work during lockdown with their Tutor Mason Jubb! Here is just a snippet of some of them. You are all amazing and we are so proud of you.’ Underneath this post, a montage of participants performing a dance sequence is included. The video starts playing within the Facebook page shown, then expands to fill the screen as the montage continues with a new upbeat backing track as a female voiceover starts.
The female voiceover says: We’ve worked with DAZL on a number of occasions. We refer children in if they are interested in dancing. All the stuff DAZL is doing online I think is really good for young people to be able to access.
The video changes to show a woman in a yellow t-short talking to the camera. A caption in the bottom left of the screen introduces her as Naomi Roxby Wardle, Director of the Fall into Place Theatre, a community organisation. The video switches to show the montage of young girls dancing, before reverting to show Naomi onscreen. The shot then changes to show another woman speaking to the camera. She is wearing a dark-coloured hoodie with a white horizontal stripe across the top of the chest. A caption in the bottom left of the screen introduces her as Suzzanne Bond, Lead Research Officer from Leeds Beckett University.
Suzzanne says: From being involved in this [mental health and resilience] project we've gained fascinating insights into the importance of dance in particular for adolescent girls. The evaluation itself has allowed us to gain an understanding of the importance of not only just dance, but the role that DAZL and the organisation itself has on fostering good mental health and resilience in young people.
Whilst Suzzanne speaks, the video shows several clips of DAZL participants following a dance sequence in their homes, before returning to show Suzzanne speaking to the camera.
The video changes to a show a different woman talking to the camera. She is wearing a white t-shirt and is shown sitting in the same room that Emma Miller, a participant, was shown in earlier in the video. A caption in the bottom left of the screen introduces her as Annie Miller, mother of Emma Miller.
Annie says: So I’m at home with the kids and it's hard to keep them entertained and find things to do for them but DAZL, the sessions that DAZL do, they keep the kids going.
Whilst Annie speaks, three short clips of young girls performing dance moves in their homes are shown onscreen one after the other.
A different woman is then shown onscreen speaking to the camera. She is wearing a long-sleeved top with black, white and beige horizontal stripes. A caption in the bottom left of the screen introduces her as Tracey Mulvey, mother of the participant Aimee Mulvey. Tracey is sat in the same room Aimee was shown in, with a vase of metal flowers visible behind her.
Tracey says: It's helped Aimee a lot. I see a positive when she’s dancing, and when she's finished class she's got a glow about her. She's happy because she's managed to speak to a friend, she's managed to speak to a teacher. She's, you know, she's a different person.
Whilst Tracey speaks, footage of Mason in a green t-shirt talking to the video screen and waving is shown. Mason is then shown in his kitchen performing a series of dance moves.
Mason’s voiceover says: One of the positives of this situation is that we are constantly having new people getting involved with DAZL and improving their mental health and wellbeing through getting up and having a bit of a dance.
The video returns to show Mason in his garden, talking to the camera.
As Mason finishes speaking, the screen changes to dark pink and the words ‘A big thank you’ are displayed in white text in the middle of the screen. The screen then changes to orange and the text is replaced with the words ‘to Dance Action Zone Leeds and all its members!’.
This fades to be replaced by a white screen displaying the Buddle logo in the centre with the National Lottery, Sport England and Streetgames logos underneath. Beneath the logos, the website address www.thebuddle.co.uk is displayed.
The music fades out and the video ends.