Inform Newsletter May 2015 | Page 6

A new small experimental project has begun called ‘Creative Communications’ thanks to a partnership between Amherst Court care home in Chatham, run by Avante Care & Support and funding provided by Ideas Test. On Monday, 13 April, Luci and Wendy visited Amherst Court and met 4 of the residents taking part over a cup of tea. They were soon talking about travels and life experiences in South Africa, including Cape Town and Nigeria. Other interests included gardening, feeding birds, singing, painting, drawing and movement for exercise. 6 The first delivery session included a mix of men, women and a dog. Pictures of ‘Table Top Mountain’ and ‘Agbokim Waterfalls’ in South Africa were circulated which stimulated conversation. Luci then delivered a warm up for hands, shoulders, arms and legs. “I am not very good at art, but I will give anything a go and art is all about taste at the end of the day” Following the warm up, Wendy began to finger cast and curiosity filled the room. The smell and sensation of the alginate became a talking point, including visits to the dentist and having your teeth moulded. Over the next 4 weeks, Luci and Wendy will be delivering more sensory dance, movement and visual art activities and towards the end some observations from a researcher will contribute to the evaluation. Luci Napleton DANCE DEVELOPER AND FACILITATOR Towards the end of the session, playful peacock feathers and stretchy material along with music provided some fun and laughter. ednasjourney.co.uk @ednasjourney facebook.com/ednasjourney Session two included more warm-up exercises to get our bodies moving and drawing with 1 metre pencils. To generate more ‘Creative Communications’ we handed out objects from a bucket and everyone began to describe what they felt or had a story in connection with the object. creativepeopleplace.info @ideastest