Special art project brings Stowmarket’s young and old together

Home news

Dec 14, 2015

Over the last few months, residents at Care UK’s Cedrus House care home have been spending time with their young neighbours at Cedars Park Community Primary School for a special creative reminiscence project, organised by Suffolk Artlink.

To mark the end of the project, everyone involved gathered at the care home for a special event on 10th December to celebrate their new friendships and showcase the finished artwork. 

The project, called ‘Where We Meet’, was set up to help build links between residents at Cedrus House and pupils at Cedars Park Community Primary School. Since October 2015 Suffolk Artlink’s community artist Caitlin Howells, poet Dean Parkin and reminiscence facilitator Julie Heathcote have been hosting sessions at Cedrus House where residents and groups of school pupils have been spending time together taking part in a range of creative activities, such as writing their own poems and songs on shared topics of interest, decorating autumn leaves and making their own Christmas crackers. 

Michelle Webster, home manager at Cedrus House, said: “We are delighted to have worked with Suffolk Artlink and our neighbours at Cedars Park Community Primary School on this special intergenerational project. Reminiscing and sharing memories between young and old has many benefits, particularly those living with dementia, so it is fantastic to see how this has been encouraged throughout the project.”

The partnership between Suffolk Artlink, Cedrus House and the primary school has been hailed such a success that a second project, to be called ‘Suffolk At Play’, is scheduled to start in spring 2016.

Candida Wingate, project officer at Suffolk Artlink, said: “It’s been lovely getting to know the residents at Cedrus House and the pupils from Cedars Park Community Primary School, and I’m excited about the prospect of working with them again in the near future.”

To find out more about Suffolk Artlink and their community projects visit www.suffolkartlink.org.uk.