Ready, set, draw – Ashford care home residents take part in worldwide art initiative

Home news

Jan 21, 2021

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

Care UK’s Montfort Manor, on Kennington Road, celebrated all things arty by creating paintings and drawings inspired by the nature found in the home’s garden. Residents enjoyed spotting birds, squirrels and other wildlife, as well as reminiscing about younger years spend visiting the countryside and their favourite places for country walks. 

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. ‘A Climate of Change’, this festival’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 in youngers years to the great outdoors, and how our focus looking after our planet has changed in recent years. 

Cheryl Shorter, Home Manager at Montfort Manor, said: “Our Big Draw event was a hit, and residents loved getting creative around the theme, ‘A Climate of Change’.

“Drawing is great for everyone, but especially for older people, including those living with dementia. On top of physical benefits, from increased motor skills to improved coordination, creative activities, such as drawing, can truly boost cognitive function and even reduce the rate of development for a range of memory conditions.

“The lifestyle team at Montfort Manor really enjoyed organising the arts and craft activities and loved seeing the joy it brought to the residents who took part – we’re all looking forward to getting our pencils out again very soon!”

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’.

Montfort Manor is a purpose-built care home which has been designed to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives, while also promoting independence. The home provides full-time residential, nursing and specialist dementia care for older people in Ashford, and incorporates space for hobby and leisure activities, including its own cinema, hairdressing salon and café.

For more information, please email Customer Relations Manager, Nicola Young, at nicola.young@careuk.com or call 01233 884 619

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