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

Residents at a care home in Whitstable have been ‘looking the art’ throughout October as they picked up their pencils and went back to the drawing board for The Big Draw Festival 2021.

Care UK’s Harrier Lodge, on Thanet Way, has 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, team members at Harrier Lodge hosted a fun competition to find their ‘Resident Artist’ and sought the help of pupils from Joy Lane Primary School to judge the resident’s artwork during a virtual art lesson on Zoom. 

Residents were first encouraged to discuss their favourite memories of time spent in the great outdoors, with many residents discussing local beauty spots and their favourite flowers from the homes recent visit to Canterbury Garden Centre. With inspiration in full bloom, the residents drew and painted using a range of pencils and watercolour paints. 

Following much discussion among the pupils and teachers, the school declared Jean their favourite artist with their painting of flowers taking top prize. Commenting on her new title of ‘Resident Artist’, Jean said: “I’m surprised that I won. I really enjoy painting as I find it relaxing and I like looking at all of the different colours.”

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 planet in light of the climate crisis. 

Diane Collins, Home Manager at Harrier Lodge, said: “Art and intergenerational activities are a huge part of life here at Harrier Lodge, and even though we may have been unable to meet in person, it was fantastic to join Joy Lane Primary School for a virtual art session to announce the Harrier Lodge winners.  

“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. 

“We’d like to say a big thank you to Joy Lane Primary School for taking part, and we can’t wait to join forces again soon for some arty fun!”

After a successful participation in the Big Draw Festival last year, 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’. 

Harrier Lodge 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 up to 65 older people in Whitstable, and incorporates space for hobby and leisure activities, including its own cinema, hairdressing salon and café. 

For more information about Harrier Lodge, please call Home Manager, Diane Collins, on 01227 808749, or email Diane.Collins@careuk.com.

For more general information on Harrier Lodge, please visit careuk.com/harrier-lodge. 

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.