Etching to go! Quorn care home residents take part in worldwide art festival

Residents at a care home in Quorn picked up their pencils and went back to the drawing board for The Big Draw Festival 2021.

Residents and team members at Care UK’s Lonsdale Mews, on Farley Way, have partnered with pioneering charity, The Big Draw, for a third successful year to promote the therapeutic benefits of drawing for expression and promoting positive wellbeing. 

 

As part of their event, residents teamed up with pupils at Rowlatts Mead Primary Academy to create a large artwork titled ‘Reconnecting with nature’. The impressive piece features pictures of residents on nature outings, as well as hand-shaped tree drawings created by the school. 

Launched in 2000 as part of the ‘Campaign for Drawing’, the month-long Big Draw Festival promotes drawing as a tool for learning, and invention, and has encouraged over four million people to get arty since its inception. ‘Make the Change’, this year’s theme, focuses on the relationship between people and their living environments, and offers a great opportunity for older people to reminisce about their favourite nature spots, how the environment has changed, and look to the future at what action can be taken to help safeguard the natural world in light of the climate crisis. 

Toby Sturgess, Home Manager at Lonsdale Mews, said: “Art and intergenerational activities are a huge part of life here at Lonsdale Mews, and even though we were unable to meet in person, it was fantastic to work with pupils at Rowlatts Mead Primary Academy for our special art project."

“Intergenerational relationships have proven to be incredibly enriching, as they provide an opportunity for younger and older generations to learn from each other. These relationships can be particularly beneficial for older people, as they can offer a sense of purpose and prompt conversations as residents reflect on their younger years."

After a successful participation in the Big Draw Festival in the past two years, Care UK renewed its partnership in 2021 as 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, Care UK homes have been getting creative and working with their local communities virtually to create works of art around the theme ‘Make the Change’. 

Lonsdale Mews offers full-time residential and dementia care, as well as short-term respite. The home incorporates space for hobby and leisure activities and includes its own cinema, hairdressing salon and café. The layout of the building is configured into a series of individual suites, each having a dedicated lounge/dining room to help facilitate the creation of close-knit communities.

To find out more about Lonsdale Mews, please call Customer Relations Manager, Jenny Cartwright, on 01509 801 587, or email jenny.cartwright@careuk.com.

For more general information, please visit careuk.com/lonsdale-mews.

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/the-big-draw.

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