Residents at a care home in Southmead picked up their pencils and went back to the drawing board for The Big Draw Festival 2020.
Care UK’s Trymview Hall, on Southmead Road, celebrated all things nature by creating works of art around this year’s theme, ‘a Climate of Change’.
As part of their event, team members at Trymview Hall held a week-long celebration of the arts, featuring a variety of creative activities focusing on the environment. This included creating nature collages, drawing and painting sessions, as well as a living art project featuring face painting and costumes. The final artworks, alongside works donated by artists in the community, were then used to put together the first-ever Trymview Hall gallery.
Launched in 2000 as part of the ‘Campaign for Drawing’, the month-long Big Draw Festival 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 year’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 to the great outdoors in their younger years, and how our focus looking after our planet has changed in recent years.
Pamela Arnsmeyer, Home Manager at Trymview Hall, said: “Our Big Draw event was a hit, and residents loved getting creative around this year’s theme, ‘A Climate of Change’.
“Arts are 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 residents also loved turning themselves into live art pieces, and seeing their art displayed for everyone to see.
“Every single activity was fantastic, and everyone left with a smile on their face – we’re all looking forward to getting our pencils and brushes 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’.
The new care home provides full-time residential, nursing and dementia care, with 66 ensuite bedrooms, and has been designed to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives, while also promoting independence. The care home will incorporate space for hobby and leisure activities and will include its own cinema, hairdressing salon and café.
For more information, email Customer Relations Manager, Evonne Burch, on evonne.burch@careuk.com or call 0333 321 8351.
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