Introduction
This statement of core values was drawn up in November 2004 and reviewed in October 2005 and May 2006, in full consultation with the Good Vibrations project team. It is aimed at potential Good Vibrations workshop leaders, funders, participating prisons and other key stakeholders, and reflects the general ethos of Firebird's approach to collaborative work with both artists and communities.

Working with prisoners
Prisoners are one of the most marginalised groups in society. While recognising that some prisoners have committed terrible crimes, we believe that helping prisoners acquire essential life skills and helping them to rehabilitate themselves so that they do not re-offend is a useful and important thing to do.We regard prisoners first and foremost as human beings and therefore respect and value them.

Workshop style
Our workshop style is relaxed, informal and un-disciplinarian. Our focus is firstly on the process, the group dynamics and individuals’ needs, rather than solely on the musical output. Furthermore we do not believe that the two are mutually exclusive. We believe that focusing on the process will in fact bring about a better musical outcome with prisoners than a more output-driven approach. We also believe this focus on process enables the project to deliver benefits like basic and key skills in the most effective way. Thirdly, we believe such an approach helps develop participants’ self-confidence and self-esteem.

There are times, however, when we need to be more directive, for example when an individual’s behaviour jeopardises the workshop’s effectiveness for the rest of the group.

As well as teaching participants traditional Javanese pieces and playing techniques, we encourage groups to develop group compositions and to take part in group improvisations. We believe this helps develop participants’ self-confidence.

Although we are not social workers and we do not offer “music therapy”, we believe participants’ problems and issues need to be acknowledged and dealt with in order to be able to deliver an effective workshop.

Our professional approach
We understand the realities of working in a prison. We understand that security must always take precedence and that the unexpected can – and will - happen. We also recognise that every prison is different: each has its own culture, structure and ways of operating. In our work we strive to understand each individual prison and tailor what we do to its regime, priorities, and ways of doing things.

Every member of the Good Vibrations team works to the highest professional standards. We always deliver what we have agreed. We are flexible, meticulous and constructive. We adopt an intelligent and positive attitude to problem-solving. We are inspired to meet these extremely high standards by knowing that this professionalism and commitment come across in our workshops and that participants respond well to this. Every member of the Good Vibrations team is subject to review of his/her work and approach by others, to ensure any opportunities to learn and improve are taken up. We value critical reflection and this permeates every aspect of the project.

We require concrete and specific evidence of the effectiveness of our work. We believe that carrying out robust and well-constructed monitoring and evaluation is vital.

Finances
Although we are a charitable project, we believe everyone in the team should be paid a professional fee for their work.

When raising funds for Good Vibrations, we seek to avoid diverting funds from existing projects (whether other Firebird Trust projects or other gamelan projects) and wherever possible raise our funds from sources which have not supported gamelan before.

31 May 2006

Please click here to view/download a copy of this statement.

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