shap - following footsteps

At the Mother's Union in Shap we were given a very friendly welcome at the Memorial which is proving to be a really useful project base as it is a well used community hub.

The Mother's Union members were very interested to see the photographs that had been printed following the Age UK Walking for Health Group's recent walk around Shap. This inspired many interesting discussions about favourite walks around Shap..we seemed to have wandered into creative writing as we listened to each other's descriptions of their walks through their favourite landscapes. 

We were also really pleased when Mother's Union members rose to the challenge of being invited into Shap Primary School next week to be 'interviewed' by the children as part of their action packed Landmark Week in school.

grasmere - 'in a bowl of mountains'

In Grasmere we are extremely lucky to be working with the fabulous staff and children at Grasmere Primary School. We have been liaising with head teacher Jo as Grasmere prepares to celebrate the Torch Relay coming to the village in June. The Torch Relay with run through the park by the Village Hall where the children will treat everyone to a concert. KWoA will be providing a striking backdrop to the event by decorating the trees set in this stunning landscape with 'raindrops' featuring community comments about the local landscape. The comments collected in Grasmere will feature a wide range of responses to "What's special about Grasmere?'

To help the KWoA team collect responses from the community, we based ourselves at the Grasmere Village Hall on a dry sunny day and we were soon busy chatted to the many people of all ages interested in the project. 

milnthorpe - preparations and plans

As part of the Landmark community project, KWoA is working with communities in Grasmere, Ambleside, Kendal and Milnthorpe as they prepare to celebrate the Torch Relay travelling through the South Lakes.

In Milnthorpe we've met members of the local community who are really enthusiastic about working together to welcome the Torch Relay in June. From Jan from the Parish Council to Dallam Secondary School teaching and management staff and the head teacher at Milnthorpe Primary School, everyone is keen to collaborate to ensure that their community members, young people and children engage with the celebrations.

shap - places from the past

KWoA was invited to meet Age UK Day Service clients at Wasdale Housing in Shap as the group was interested in opportunities for these older people to contribute to the Landmark project. Through discussion over maps and cups of tea about memories of the local landscape, the group were able to share inspiring tales from local places from the past. The most fascinating were the many memories of living and visiting Mardale when it was a living, working community before the valley was flooded in 1936 to form Haweswater. Through these conversations we had a tangible link back to the history of the landscape in the first part of the 20th century. 

Their contributions are extremely valuable, first hand witness accounts of historical events which are highly relevant to the local community. This group includes the Landmark project's oldest participant who is 104 years old.

ambleside - making connections

The KWoA team returned to the Kelswick Centre in Ambleside to meet the second group of Age UK South Lakeland Day Services clients. It was a chance for artists and older residents to enjoy each other's company. Each artist spent time with one person aiming to encourage engagement through gentle conversations about favourite local places and favourite interests. It was a very intense yet rewarding session for all the artists, with opportunities to make connections especially linked to areas of creativity. 

For example, one lady who had sculpted in the past showed great focus as we manipulated soft modelling material into a surreal landscape. 

In another partnership between an artist and older gentleman, a wealth of valuable art history knowledge was unlocked through practical painting and discussion activities.

shap - off for a walk

Back in Shap, the Age UK Walking for Health Group have been preparing for their next walk but this time, its a walk with a difference. KWoA has invited the group. as part of the Landmark project, to share their walk with their local community. So this week's walk is around Shap, taking in the local landmarks and landscapes identified by the group that they feel might interest a community audience. They have also taken a KWoA disposable camera to record their journey around the Shap landscape. We can't wait to see and share the photographs once they've been printed.

The walk started at Shap Memorial Hall.

ambleside- valuing older adults

MAY 2012

We are very keen to value the contribution of older adults in the communities that we are working with. Everyone is invited to be involved and we try hard to make all project activities accessible for all.

At Ambleside through collaboration with Age UK South Lakeland, we've been invited to work with older clients at the Day Services provision based at the Kelswick Centre.

At the first session, KWoA artists visited a Day Services group and over cups of tea got chatting about everyone's favourite local landmarks. Soon discussions had developed about the clients' memories of favourite local walks through the beautiful Ambleside countryside. Inspired by these conversations, the artists drew up plans to visit these highlighted landmarks and rewalk those favourite walks.

We've got our marching orders!