AN ARTFUL celebration of nature was had at a Stratford care home as part of National Art in Care Homes Day.
Creative wellbeing charity Escape Arts were invited to organise a days of events at Ambleside Care Home.
This included music, textile knotting craft macramé and the building of a collage installation, celebrating nature and local wildlife.
Escape Arts’s programme manager and Jazz musicians Dionne Sambrook and Nick Ransford led an afternoon of music which got everyone involved in singing, dancing and a lot of toe-tapping.
Escape Arts practitioners Sarah and Morgana led activities around macramé, combining natural elements to form woodland hangings for resident’s rooms.
Meanwhile Karen and Kirsty focused on creating a large butterfly wing installation to be displayed outside as Ambleside’s first selfie photo backdrop.
CEO Karen Williams said: “It was a wonderful opportunity to go and use creativity to bring joy and raise a smile. All the activities prompted a lot of chat, stirred memories and resulted in a lot of laughter.”
Dionne Sambrook added: “We looked entertaining the residents and their families and seeing the enjoyment on their faces. We would love to do more!”
Alongside this, Escape Arts took its Secret Knitted Garden – a handcrafted woollen oasis of fruit, flowers, vegetables and wildlife – to the care home.
Ambleside spokeswoman Wendy Fojtik said: “Thank you so much to Escape Arts for lending us the amazing secret garden. We have had some fantastic feedback and it has even been on a tour of the home to people who are unable to get out of bed and it was lovely to see the faces when they saw all the knitted creatures.”
The work is part of a wider Creative Health outreach programme supported by Warwickshire County Council Wellbeing and Resilience Fund and Big Lottery Fund.
Email [email protected] for information or to get involved.
