The children, residents and team involved gathered at Dean Clough for a celebratory lunch on Friday 14 July to celebrate and admire the collaborative art works created.
Here’s a quick video!
The ground-breaking project has been shortlisted in the Nursery World Awards 2017 in the Community Support category, with the winner announced on Saturday 23rd September at the Brewery, London.
Eureka! Nursery children aged 2-4 years have regularly visited the residents of Trinity Fold residents since spring 2016, though we embarked on the artistic collaboration with the Dean Clough Foundation to introduce a more structured programme of activities, which became our Intergenerational Arts Project. For the project, textile artist Annie Beech led a series of creative workshops in which our children and the care home residents created beautiful artworks that will go on display in our nursery later this month.
Rebecca Oberg, Strategic Lead: Play & Early Years at Eureka! said “We know the tremendous value that intergenerational projects such as this have, and the positive experience that they bring to all involved – young and old. This is an on-going relationship for us at Eureka! Nursery as we’ve grown very close to the residents of Trinity Fold, and have seen first-hand the huge benefits that regular contact with older generations has. For us, it’s as much about giving children opportunities to develop a broader outlook on the world as it is about nurturing their creativity, though of course we’ve had a lot of fun along the way too!”.
Gill Sherwood, Activity Coordinator from Trinity Fold, commented “The children bring such joy and excitement on their visits. You can quite visibly see the positive stimulation a visit brings, especially to our Residents living with Dementia, prompting memories of when they were children, there is so much more laughter, singing and general chatter which can be missing when the children are not here”
As Catrin Hedd Jones, Lecturer in Dementia Studies, Bangor University writes that intergenerational projects, such as this, provide all involved with a valuable experience: “These days traditional families are separated by distance, time and lack of understanding between generations, but programmes that bring children and older adults together could change the whole of society’s outlook. Children are the worlds’ future but that doesn’t mean we should consign older generations to the past.”
Ruth Gamble, Arts Education Manager from the Dean Clough Foundation observed that “All involved have shared new experiences, learnt new skills, been creative, shared meals, welcomed one another in new environments and had lots of fun. It has been a joyous project to deliver and I hugely enthusiastic to explore its legacy.”
By: Leigh-Anne Stradeski