Hundreds of older people in Islington will experience the benefits of getting creative – thanks to new funding for an arts charity.
All Change will deliver sessions in poetry, music, dance and the visual arts, funded by a £100,000 grant from City Bridge Trust – the City of London Corporation’s charity funder.
The charity, which has been working in Islington for over 35 years, expects to help around 500 people via sessions from its base in Dingley Place and community settings such as care homes and day centres.
City Bridge Trust Chairman Giles Shilson said:
“The act of taking part in something creative, getting active and being around other people can have a profound effect on people’s mental and physical wellbeing – particularly later in life.
“This funding will help All Change to build on the success of its work in bringing together creative artists from a wide range of disciplines with older people – to the benefit and enrichment of both.”
The programme will be delivered through weekly arts sessions, artist in residence programmes, inter-generational sessions bringing older and younger people together and celebration events where the work is showcased.
Artists work with older people to develop work on themes important to them, which in recent years have included topics as diverse as the pandemic, Black Lives Matter and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
All Change Artistic Director Suzanne Lee said:
“The work we do is aimed at bringing together artists and communities to work collaboratively together and create art inspired by the things that matter to them.
“It’s about connecting people, building their confidence, nourishing and strengthening them to give them the resilience and strength to cope with challenges in their life such as the cost-of-living crisis.”
