Photographer: Sarah Hickson, arts & health, take care group
welcome Firstly, thank you for your continued support as a patron of Farnham Maltings. Put simply, it has allowed us to do things that wouldn’t have happened without you. We are working with more people from every part of our community. But more than this, we value the encouragement your support gives the team. From my point of view we have only just begun to scratch the surface of what is possible. We remain ambitious and believe there is more we can do. Over the past year we have started to work with the Gulbenkian Foundation to explore the civic role that organisations such as ours can and could play in our communities. Pleasingly we were recommended to them as an organisation that is doing this work well, based in no small part down to the new things we are doing. Many of you may have heard me speak about wanting the Maltings to contribute to the shape and character of the town, to ensure that all of us thrive. One of the challenges is the perception that Farnham is an affluent, comfortable town without need. Which is no more true than Bradford is full of people with flat caps and whippets. I worry that this attitude will lead to complacency. To a view that the world was better in 1954 and that there is nothing we can or need to do to change it. This is not a view I subscribe to. I know the world is changing and we need to adapt and be inventive if we are going to be safe and happy. I also know that we face particular challenges living, as we do, in the shadow of London. So when I see the 50 plus elders meeting up on a Monday afternoon for a regular singing for the brain session, and hear from one lady’s carer that this is now the event that shapes her week, or when I see the 300 plus young people from every part of our community mixing and performing at Spark Festival, I know we are making a difference.
I want us to continue to invest in the buildings. Partly to improve them but also as a demonstration of us as a confident, open set of spaces. There are still things we want to do to improve the accessibility of the building. To make it possible to receive audio descriptions of the film and theatre programme, to host relaxed performances for people with autism, to install a lift to the main stage. Of course all of these things cost money and we continue to plan and fundraise to make these things happen. We want the Maltings to be a place that feels welcoming to everyone. And I hope we continue to surprise people with the range of things that happen here. Finally, you should know that when we are talking to funders, to trusts or to local authorities it is always compelling to be able to say that whichever project we are describing is supported by our patrons. Thank you for that. Gavin Stride Director
craft update: Pop-up craft events
Our Pop-up craft programme provides free, accessible drop-in workshops for families to create and make together. The project attends public events in and around Farnham and occupies a pop-up space, accessing a local audience that may not otherwise engage with crafts, or take time to interact with their children in a creative way. Each workshop fits in with a seasonal theme, is led by an artist, and uses recycled materials that you would find lying around at home. The project also runs sessions with special needs and disadvantaged groups that teach the participants new skills, and allows time for intergenerational activities that might not otherwise happen.
This summer, we are running various events at places such as Gostrey Meadow ‘Music in the Meadow’ Young Artist Showcase on Sun 03 July, Sure Start’s Summer Fun Day at Potters Gate School on Thu 04 August, and a Heritage Open day event on Sat 10 September at the Maltings. As well as this we are planning more sessions towards the end of the year to be held at the Hale Institute, Food Festival in Castle Street, and at various Christmas events. Make sure you look out for us, and encourage family and friends to get involved, and to try something new!
arts & health update Earlier this year we expanded our arts & elders programme to become arts & health, to encompass a broader spectrum of ages and groups within our community. Kath Boddy who coordinates the programme, has developed our existing provision by increasing Singing for the Brain sessions from fortnightly to weekly, celebrating Christmas with an intergenerational dance with live music called ‘All Together Now’ and putting together a relaxed screening season of Julie Andrew’s films in the months around her 80th birthday. Local partnerships with health and community groups continue to strengthen and our profile has received a boost on the website www.farnhammaltings/artsandhealth The programme has expanded and currently includes two pilot schemes for carers: Chaos Choir for new parents caring for babies and toddlers and Take Care, drama workshops specifically aimed at carers of people with dementia (see image at the top of the page). In addition to this, thanks to support from Waverly Borough Council we are running an outreach programme to local care homes with a craft artist, called Making Keepsake Boxes. We also run these sessions on site, and they are open to anyone who wants to create a memory ‘capsule’, together with a loved one, in honour of someone no longer with us or to share thoughts with future generations. Last October we launched Meet Me at the Maltings in response to the issue of a nationwide ‘loneliness epidemic’. The group has grown organically and the core participants are now selforganising and support each other outside of the group, whether through chance encounters in the supermarket or organised ‘extra-curricular’ pub lunches or cinema visits.
youth & participation update: Spark 2016
This year’s Spark youth arts festival was bigger than ever before, spanning a full weekend and including a visual art exhibition, free creative arts workshops, and a performing arts platform event. The festival saw 300 young people from across Farnham and the wider Waverley area engage in a range of arts and creative activities such as film, drumming, dance, mask making and special effects makeup. The festival worked with young people from a number of social support groups plus extracurricular activities and schools. Participants this year included: Hale Children's Centre Young Parents group, Surrey Young Carers, Farnham Scouts and students from Farnham Heath End school. One particular group was made up of clients from Step by Step, a local charity working in Farnham and Aldershot supporting young people facing homelessness. Six young people spent the day with Farnham based artist, Marios Panteli. The group learnt drawing, calligraphy and graffiti skills to create three large murals that will sit in the communal lounge area of their residential suite. Emma Joyce, Training Coordinator at Step by Step said: 'The young people at Step by Step had wanted to update the art work in the communal lounge area for some time and the Spark Festival was an amazing opportunity for them to work with a talented artist to produce something fresh and inspiring. It was a great project that built their teamwork skills and their hard work paid off in the form of some great artwork! One young person that participated loves the arts and has not had much opportunity to get involved in something so creative before. They were dedicated to see the project through from start to finish
and were further inspired to implement a new design on their guitar.'
museum of farnham update Crafternoons Building on our successful summer of craft activities in 2015, the Museum will be continuing to hold these free events on Thursdays in July and August. Children of all ages from across the area are invited to create and make ‘Animal Magic’, with a different theme each week, including Animal Cards, Animal Mobiles, Animal Sculptures and Animal Masks. Finding Farnham In July we are running our third year of community digging in Farnham. Over the last two years the community dig has hosted over 2000 participants, including large numbers of school children from St. Peter’s School each year, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Although community digs are not a new idea to the area, the Farnham project has been described by the Surrey Archaeological Society as the most successful they have ever seen. In addition to being a fantastic way of engaging people with their own history, the project is also helping us to understand our own town’s history as we discover more finds. We hope to continue to run the project for many more years. If you would like to get involved, all you need to do is email the team at: findingfarnham@gmail.com and express your interest. Craft Month This year, as part of Farnham Craft Month, the museum will be holding behind the scenes archive tours on Sat 08 October. It will be an opportunity for the community to take a glimpse at the historic costume and fine art collections held here at the Museum. From Victorian shoes to pictures drawn and painted by Farnham’s finest artists, there will be extraordinary objects to discover that are cared for in the museum stores. Tours will last approximately 30 minutes and will begin at 11am, 1pm and 3pm.
For more information about the Farnham Maltings Patrons scheme, and how regular donations can support our community further, please visit the Patrons page on our website, or speak to someone at the box office, where you can also collect a Patron information flyer. Thank you for
supporting our work. Farnham Maltings Bridge Square
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