Celebrating Age webinar: adapting through Covid-19

Thursday 12th November 2020: 10am – 12pm

The Family Arts Campaign are delighted to deliver a free Celebrating Age webinar, in partnership with Arts Council England.  

This free session will explore how arts & cultural organisations have changed and adapted their approach to continue to connect with and engage older people during Covid19.  

This session will be hosted with the support of the AMA.  

Book your place

In this webinar you will learn more about:  

  • How the limitations of Covid19 have impacted engagement with older people 
  • How to continue work with care homes and other partners during Covid19 
  • New approaches using a blend of digital activities and physical resources to broaden engagement opportunities   

The webinar will be interactive with space to pose questions, problems, examples of positive practice and a chance to discuss some of the challenges and opportunities faced.  

Who is the session for?  

Spaces are available on a first come-first served basis. A recording of the session will be available to download after the event has taken place.   

This webinar is suitable for anyone working in the arts and culture sector with an interest in providing creative and cultural opportunities for all generations.  

NB: This webinar is open to everyone. You do not need to receive Celebrating Age funding in order to take part.  

Please contact Anna Dever (anna.dever@thealbany.org.uk) if you have any access needs you would like us to be aware of.  

Speakers include:

  • Imogen Blood 
  • Lorna Easterbrook
  • Hannah Elton-Wall, General Manager, Artspace Cinderford
  • Farrell Renowden, Head of Cultural Partnerships / Age of Creativity Festival Director, Age UK Oxfordshire
  • Hayley Green, Writer Development Manager, Writing East Midlands CIC  

About Celebrating Age 

Celebrating Age is a fund from Arts Council England and the Baring Foundation, supporting cultural spaces and other organisations to be open, positive and welcoming places for older people; and taking high quality arts and culture into places where older people will find it easier to engage. Read more about the currently funded projects. 

Speakers & their work

Imogen Blood began her career in social work and supported housing, before moving into qualitative research. In 2009, she set up Imogen Blood & Associates – a social research consultancy, which works across the public and not-for-profit sectors, with a particular focus on older people. She has a long-standing interest in the role which the arts can play in working with people in a strengths-based way. She has been leading the team evaluating the Celebrating Age project.

Lorna Easterbrook has worked alongside older people, their families, friends, and broader networks across health, care, and support needs, and quality of life, for 25 years. She has also been a family carer. Working independently since 2000, Lorna was previously the community care policy expert at Age UK and the King’s Fund. Lorna is a member of the Society of Authors, and a former professional theatre stage manager. She is working part of the team evaluating the Celebrating Age project.

Hannah Elton-Wall is the General Manager of Artspace Cinderford, a community arts and education charity based in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. Artspace work with people of any age or ability and specialise in inclusive provision for people with higher levels of need. Hannah has led the organisation’s work with older people since 2010, including ‘mindSCAPE’ a project which connects people with dementia and their carers to nature through art. ‘mindSCAPE’, is a Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty partnership initiative which started in 2014 with funding from the Big Lottery and continues, with development funding from Arts Council England’s ‘Celebrating Age’ programme, until March 21.

Using Creativity to Connect Older People to Nature During the Covid-19 Pandemic

How Artspace has adapted its delivery model and approach to programming in response to Covid-19 – with specific reference to using nature/the local landscape as a means of engaging older people living in the community and residential care homes.

Farrell Renowden: Since 2016, Farrell has focussed on two significant projects within the creative ageing field: Embedding creative delivery within the Age UK network across England and championing Age UK Oxfordshire as a national exemplar of best practice, as well as managing the Age of Creativity network of over 2000 professionals and producing an annual festival to showcase older creative audiences, participants, volunteers and artists each May.  Farrell is also a trustee for Human Story Theatre- new plays with health and social care issues at their heart. www.ageofcreativity.co.uk

Farrell’s presentation will focus on how older people, who are new to digital delivery, have been supported to engage in creativity during lockdown and the role of ‘blended approaches’ in making the experience more accessible and person-centred as we continue to evolve our remote delivery.

Hayley Green is the Writer Development Manager for Writing East Midlands, the literature development agency for the East Midlands. She has been delivering creative projects in the community for almost 10 years in schools, colleges and communities. She has delivered projects to people affected by mental health difficulties, young people in care and the LGBTQIA writing community including establishing a LGBTQIA writing festival and network, Writing Proud.

Zoom with a Brew – how Writing East Midlands created opportunities for over 55s to connect through creative writing during lockdown

Zoom with a Brew was part of Writing East Midlands’ Elder Tree Project, delivering writer residencies across the East Midlands to individuals aged 55 and over as part of Arts Council England’s Celebrating Age Campaign. Zoom with a Brew was delivered by Andy Barrett and Lucy Grace in collaboration with First Art and the Baring Foundation. Zoom with a Brew was a six-week creative project led by artist Andy Barrett and shadow writer Lucy Grace, which allowed over 55s in Ashfield, Bolsover, Mansfield and NE Derbyshire the chance to get together online and write in response to text messages which were sent out twice weekly. The final product come in the form of a website which features all of the texted tasks and the responses, as well as photos and videos of the work being read (by participants and by other poets). It is an archive of creativity in the strangest of times.

Book your place

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21 October 2020