Down to a fine art – Ramsey Academy students join Halstead care home for the world’s largest drawing

Residents at a care home in Halstead picked up their pencils and welcomed a local school for The Big Draw Festival 2019.

Care UK’s Colne View, on Dame Mary Walk, joined in the celebrations with students from Ramsey Academy by creating works of art around this year’s theme, ‘drawn to life’.

Residents and students spent time discussing their special places and sharing photographs as inspiration, before creating watercolour paintings.

Launched in 2000 as part of the ‘Campaign for Drawing’, The Big Draw promotes drawing as a tool for learning, expression and invention, and has encouraged over four million people to get arty since its inception. This year’s theme celebrates the benefits of creative activities, especially drawing, on health and wellbeing. 2019 also marks the bicentenary of John Ruskin’s birth, founder of the Guild of St George, the charitable education trust behind the initiative.

Razvan Stanbeca, home manager at Colne View, said: “Here at Colne View, we firmly believe that activity-based care is essential in supporting residents to lead fulfilling lives, so The Big Draw is a fantastic initiative for us to get involved with.

“Drawing is an accessible activity that people of all ages can enjoy together, so we were delighted to welcome pupils from the Ramsey Academy to join us for the occasion. Art, combined with intergenerational relationships, has proven benefits for older people, by offering the chance to tap into happy memories and an alternative way to communicate emotions and thoughts.

“Everyone had a wonderful day, and we can’t wait to display our masterpieces in the home!”

Colne View is a modern care home set in attractive grounds, and has been designed to support residents to live enjoyable and fulfilling lives. It provides residential, nursing and dementia care, as well as short-term respite care.

Recognising the importance of artistic activities, Care UK was happy to become one of the lead sponsors for The Big Draw this year alongside organisations such as The Courtauld Institute of Art and the City of Toronto Museum. You can read more about Care UK’s national involvement here: https://thebigdraw.org/drawn-to-life-care-uk

For more information about Colne View, please contact senior customer relations manager, Kim Richardson, on 01787 389 337 or email kim.richardson2@careuk.com

For more general information, please visit: careuk.com/colne-view

To find out more about the Big Draw festival, please go to thebigdraw.org