GOOD TIMES Prescription for Art ‘I look at the world in a different way since I’ve been coming to these classes’ The Sackler Centre for Arts Education
‘Inactivity and isolation accelerate physical and psychological decline, creating a negative spiral towards premature, preventable ill health and dependency’ Report of the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology on Ageing, 2005
ALONE The problem
Over 1/3 of people over 65 live alone National Statistics Over 25% of people over 65 say they have no best friend Age Concern
17% of people over 65 do not have weekly contact with friends, family or neighbours Age Concern 32 older people in the UK die alone and unnoticed every day Age Concern
‘I feel alive again, not just vegetating’
ALIVE How ‘Prescription for Art’ can help
Dulwich Picture Gallery has teamed up with three local doctors’ surgeries to reach out to people other institutions may have passed by Nurses with special responsibilities for older people invite patients they feel are at most risk of isolation to creative workshops in the Sackler Studio
Two years of experience have shown that art can deliver a real tonic. Participants feel more confident and positive, concentrate better, and forget their aches and pains People learn new skills in sympathetic and stimulating surroundings, make friends, and start to integrate back into their community
‘It’s been simply wonderful. A real transformation’
WONDERFUL The opportunities
Prescription for Art is the latest initiative from ‘Good Times: Art for Older People at Dulwich Picture Gallery’. This programme uses art to tackle loneliness and inertia. A tempting menu of art
activities including creative workshops and gallery tours, combined with time to talk and enjoy companionship, helps to build confidence and self esteem
‘The teachers were wonderful – they made you look at new things and get interested again’
DIFFERENT The experience
‘We all learnt skills that we thought we could never do and will treasure for ever’ ‘It’s like a therapy’
‘I don’t want to go to lunch – I want to see more paintings!’ ‘I can see the difference in their confidence, and they’re talking to me more’
‘I’m enjoying this so much. This is something I would never ‘My art work proves I haven’t have thought of doing’ become a cabbage’
‘You won’t be able to keep me away, now I know what’s here!’
WELCOMING Good Times offers: Storytelling tours to stimulate memories and imagination
Dance workshops, with the Experienced artists engage Rambert Dance Company, which participants with an exciting interpret painted line, shape and range of media gesture through inventive dance Painting in the Park – outdoor Dramatic Art workshops and studio workshops reuniting which bring paintings alive participants and artists for more through acting Good Times, with a healthy twist!
Musical tours with tea and live music, from classical to show songs
Creative art sessions in the Sackler Studio and out in the community
Welcoming Gallery tours to delight and intrigue, with personal guides
Art training for carers, equipping them to continue the Good Times initiative back in their communities
‘I’ve learnt so much’
EXPERIENCE The Oxford Institute of Ageing, Oxford University
Now Dulwich Picture Gallery is working in partnership with the Oxford Institute of Ageing to evaluate and disseminate the Good Times experience more widely, enabling others to benefit from the programme
and advising on policy making for a mature society
‘Endorsing the role of older people. The Good Times project is a unique project which is not only leading to better lives for older people The Institute researches the but also enhancing the quality impact of ageing from a global of life for all of us involved.’ to an individual level, working Professor Sarah Harper, Director, with colleagues in government Oxford Institute of Ageing
‘A truly enriching experience’
SPECIAL
Good Times Partners Many diverse groups have participated in the Good Times programme - large and small, national and local, from the health sector, social services and the voluntary sector – enabling older people from a wide spectrum of London’s multi-cultural society to enjoy the benefits of art 41 partners have taken part in 134 sessions, benefiting 1770 participants so far Abbeyfield Local Reminiscence Group Members have a variety of special needs including visual, hearing and mobility impairments
Age Concern Southwark, Black Elders Supporting Afro-Caribbean people over 60 in the community Age Concern Southwark, Mentally Frail Elders Providing much needed respite care for families. The elders are referred by the Maudsley psychiatric hospital Blackfriars Settlement A community group in Southwark offering friendship, support and activities to isolated older residents Central Hill Day Centre A venue in Lambeth with facilities for older people with physical health problems
Chelsea Pensioners Many of these war veterans are keen to maintain contacts with the outside world, and Access to Art particularly enjoy meeting A door to door service for people who need help to get to schoolchildren and chatting to or around museums or galleries the visitors Contact the Elderly Age Concern Bromley, A national charity arranging HOur Bank volunteer drivers to collect An imaginative skills swap frail, elderly people who live initiative, to encourage local alone to gather for tea and people to participate in their companionship community and combat isolation
Divya Vora and Friends Divya is a carer herself who brought friends to the Gallery ‘I know a lot of Indian ladies who won’t go out by themselves and are very depressed. But they’ll come on the bus if I bring them’. And she did Dulwich Helpline’s Men’s Group For older men who meet once a month in a local pub, where they were persuaded to try some art sessions at the Gallery Edward Alleyn House A local almshouse providing flats for people ‘in need, hardship or distress’ Elm Lodge and The Gardens Local doctors’ surgeries whose nurses help us develop ‘Prescription for Art’ for older patients Evergreen Group, Charterhouse-in-Southwark Part of the settlement movement to alleviate poverty and provide practical support for families in need. The Evergreen group is specifically for older residents Greenvale Nursing Home, Streatham For patients with life-long mental health problems and other illnesses associated with old age Intermediate Care Unit, Dulwich Hospital Patients and carers at the Gallery’s local hospital James Allen’s Girls’ School Sixth form volunteers partnered with older people in innovative intergenerational art workshops Kingswood Group For older residents on the local Kingswood Estate, run by Dulwich Helpline Lambeth and Southwark Carers ‘New Beginnings’ group For older carers who have recently been bereaved
Lively Minds A local group for older people who meet twice a week. Most members are ladies who have been widowed or live alone Live Music Now! A scheme, founded by legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin, which brings high quality musical performances to those who rarely experience live music Malam Court A small and local art group run by and for older people
People’s Excursion A Lambeth group that brings over 50s together for cultural activities and excursions to places they would be unlikely to visit alone Prince George Duke of Kent Court, Bromley A nursing home for older Freemasons and their dependents Rambert Dance Company Britain’s flagship contemporary dance company led art-inspired dance workshops
Rascals (Readily Available Morley College, over-50s Creative Arts Learning community art group, Waterloo Services), Essex A drop-in art group An arts and crafts group for older disabled people Nightingale House A Wandsworth care home for Southwark and Lambeth older members of the Jewish Community Mental Health community Centre at Holmhurst A specialist centre for older Norwood Resource Centre people with dementia, A centre for older people consisting of a care home and a with health problems who day centre live independently in the community Southwark Arts Forum An umbrella group for arts Orpington Friendship Group organisations The club offers retired people the chance to make new Southwark Asian Elders friendships and take part in A day care centre in Peckham shared activities where older Asian people can come for meals, information Out and About and social and cultural activities A new London group for ‘people in their prime’ to have a day out each month
Springfield Primary Care Centre An art group organised by local doctors for isolated and mentally frail members of the community Stockwell Park Day Centre Day centre facilities in Brixton for older people with dementia or memory loss St Barnabas Wednesday Group A weekly social gathering for older people, organised by volunteers from the local church St Christopher’s Hospice, Sydenham The pioneers of the hospice movement, helping patients and their families cope with terminal illness St George Christ Church and St Paul, Forest Hill Working with, and arranging art workshops and Gallery visits for, local groups of older people University of the Third Age (U3A) U3A is for people no longer working to share their knowledge, skills and experience Women’s British Legion, A local branch of this nationwide organisation providing care and support to the ex-Service community
‘The best bit has been talking and laughing’
FRIENDSHIP
‘When you bring someone to such a lovely place – well, they really feel valued’
To support, donate to, participate in or just find out more about Good Times, contact: The Education Department, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Gallery Road, London SE21 7AD Tel: 020 8299 8734 www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk
Acknowledgements: Good Times is a three-year project generously funded by the City Bridge Trust, with additional support from The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust, The Concertina Arts Trust, The Maurice Marks Charitable Trust and The Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust.
Why Dulwich Picture Gallery is unique
Social action through art is at the heart of the work carried out by the Gallery’s award-winning Education Department
Dulwich Picture Gallery was the first purpose-built art gallery in England – a small but magnificent collection of Old Master paintings in a building designed by Sir John Soane in 1811
‘The Education Department at DPG is renowned for its groundbreaking work securing new audiences through interactive methods.
The City Bridge Trust is proud to be associated with your work with older people. You are using your unique and wonderful resource to broaden the horizons, quite literally, of hundreds of Londoners who might otherwise sit on their own at home. Thank you.’ Sara Llewellin, Deputy Chief Grants Officer of The City Bridge Trust
SteersMcGillan Design Ltd 01225 465546
UNIQUE