Ready, set, draw – Kidderminster care home residents take part in worldwide art festival

Home news

Nov 13, 2020

Residents at a care home in Kidderminster picked up their pencils and went back to the drawing board for The Big Draw Festival 2020.

Care UK’s Brook Court, on Oldnall Road, celebrated all things nature by creating works of art around this year’s theme, ‘a Climate of Change’.  

As part of their event, residents and team members created an autumn-themed collage. Residents across all suites at the care home created different parts of the artwork, from drawing the tree, to painting leaves in reds and yellows, adding pine cones foraged from the home’s garden, and wreaths which were attached to the finished design to complete the woodland scene.

Launched in 2000 as part of the ‘Campaign for Drawing’, the month-long Big Draw Festival promotes drawing as a tool for learning, expression and invention, and has encouraged over four million people to get arty since its inception. ‘A Climate of Change’, this year’s theme, focuses on the relationship between people and their environment, and offers a great opportunity for older people to reminisce about their favourite nature spots, as well as trips to the great outdoors in their younger years, and how our focus looking after our planet has changed in recent years. 

Gill Pratt, Home Manager at Brook Court, said: “It was wonderful to take part in The Big Draw for the second year – everyone had a great time putting their drawing skills to the test.

“Creative activities play a big part of life here at Brook Court, and we actively encourage residents to continue lifelong arty hobbies and to try new expressive pastimes. Drawing has a variety of benefits for older people, especially those living with dementia, as it provides an alternative way to communicate and express emotions, and an opportunity to relive happy memories.

“It was great to see everyone’s pieces come together. We certainly have some budding artists and we look forward to displaying our work of art in the home.”

After a successful participation in the Big Draw Festival last year, Care UK renewed its partnership in 2020, becoming the main health and social care partner and leading the way in changing perceptions of life in a care home by promoting activity-based care and encouraging other care homes to follow suit. Across the country, more than 70 homes have been getting arty and working with their local communities virtually to create works of art around the theme ‘A Climate of Change’.

Brook Court is a state-of-the-art care home which provides full-time residential, nursing, dementia care, as well as short-term respite care. The care home, which features 67 en-suite bedrooms, has been designed to enable its residents to live active and fulfilled lives, while also promoting independence. The care home incorporates space for hobby and leisure activities and includes its own cinema, hairdressing salon and café.

To find out more about Brook Court, email home manager Gill Pratt on Gillian.Pratt@careuk.com, or call on 01562 814 715.

To find out more about Care UK’s partnership with the Big Draw, and for more top tips on how you and your loved ones can get involved at home, visit careuk.com/care-homes/bigdraw

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