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

Residents at a care home in Kingston Vale 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 Sherwood Grange, on Robin Hood Lane, 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 and team members first discussed their thoughts on the climate crisis and the impact it is having on countries across the world. Residents expressed their concerns for plants and insects, in particular pollinators and the integral role they play in our food chain. After being encouraged to share their favourite memories of time spent among nature as a child, and a discussion around their favourite nature poetry, the residents got to work at creating their own artwork. 

Titled, ‘Climate Chaos’, the residents at Sherwood Grange used a range of materials, including watercolours and oil pastels, to create a giant piece of artwork which highlights the effects ongoing temperature changes, caused by air pollution, are having on the natural world. Included in the piece are quotes from the resident’s favourite poems about nature, as well as their own personal concerns about the future of the planet. 

Commenting on the piece, resident Marion said: “Having spent many happy moments of my childhood and adult life in Foxley Bluebell Woods in Norfolk, I would hate to think it might not exist for future generations.”

Commenting on the artwork, resident Ida added: “I always look forward to the art projects because they keep me busy and engage my mind. I was never a naturally arty person before Sherwood Grange, but find myself looking forward to each art project more and more – and I can spend time chatting and remembering while taking part!”. 

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. 

Rick Mayne, Home Manager at Sherwood Grange, said: “The Big Draw Festival is a fantastic initiative to get creative, and we know residents have been looking forward to the event.  

“Here at Sherwood Grange, we believe in the power of activity-based care. Art is a wonderful way for residents to express their feelings and showcase their artistic flare through an activity where anyone can take part – and there is no right or wrong way! 

“This year’s theme created a great topic of conversation, and it was interesting to hear residents’ favourite nature-related anecdotes and views on how things have changed since they were young. It was fantastic to see the residents discussing what small actions we can all do that will lead to big changes in the fight against climate change or loss of our wildlife”.

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’. 

Sherwood Grange has been designed to encourage residents to live active and fulfilling lives, while remaining as independent as possible in a safe environment. The ‘Outstanding’-rated, state-of-the-art care home features a cinema, hair salon and art studio, and incorporates space for hobby and leisure activities. The layout of the building is configured into a series of individual suites, each having a dedicated lounge/dining room, to facilitate the creation of close-knit communities.

To find out more about Sherwood Grange, please contact Community Relations Manager Paul Boyce at paul.boyce@careuk.com or call 020 4502 8956.

For more general information, please visit: careuk.com/sherwood-grange.

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.