We recently ran a project called ‘Shine’ in partnership with Sanctuary housing delivering craft and creative writing workshops in residential homes in Sheffield, Hull and Chester.
Our Artist John ran creative writing and poetry sessions with 19 participants over a number of weeks at Bradwell Court in Chester, one resident described the sessions as ‘The best thing I have done since moving to Bradwell Court”. The sessions culminated in the residents producing an Anthology of poems they had written which were then presented and read aloud as part of a celebration event.
‘Residents seemed genuinely delighted to be introduced to poems they thought they had long forgotten and they responded enthusiastically both to the new poetry they had heard and to the creative work we did together.’ John Lindley
Another of our artists Sara also worked on visual arts sessions with over 20 residents from Park View Residential Care Home over a period of ten weeks. She worked on a broad range of arts and crafts skills which helped improve the confidence and general wellbeing of the participants. These included making lavender bags, sewn and embellished Christmas decorations, lino printed pictures and paper flowers.
“The participants loved taking the crafts/artworks away with them. They were very proud of what they had achieved. They thoroughly enjoyed and were enthusiastic about making felt brooches as they could wear them with pride” Sara Beavan-Widdowson
Many residents who wouldn’t normally get involved with activities participated in the sessions. Staff at the care homes were so pleased with how the project has gone that they will be continuing to run their own craft sessions in the future.
We would like to thank Sanctuary Housing for giving us the opportunity to be involved with the project and also all the staff and residents who took part and made it such a worthwhile experience for us and our artists.
