Meet leah, a member of Age UK Islington

art:links is Create’s national creative arts programme connecting and upskilling vulnerable older people. During September and October 2021, members of Age UK Islington took part in music workshops with our professional musicians Holly Khan and Kate Smith. We spoke to Leah about her experience on the project.

“I’ve enjoyed singing, I’ve enjoyed the writing exercises, I’ve enjoyed seeing our work come together in songs.”

Leah

“I’ve been going through a really difficult time. I’ve just moved house and I’m a family carer, so I have some of that responsibility. My life is really quite lonely. It’s been really good to get out and meet people again. Where I was living before, I couldn’t get Zoom and I often couldn’t get phone calls. It makes you feel really isolated. So it’s been lovely to come back out and do something.

“As a group, we created a poem, which we then scored. We created the poem as part of a free-writing exercise: we went into the park, collected natural objects, wrote about them, and then used that as a basis for the song. It was absolutely brilliant, I was so proud when I saw it last week. I’ve also created some stories, and I started to create a poem as well.

“IT WAS LIKE MISSING A LIMB”

“I’ve enjoyed singing, I’ve enjoyed the writing exercises, I’ve enjoyed seeing our work come together in songs. And it’s made me realise how much I missed the musicianship I’ve been part of before, which I haven’t done for a while.

“I’ve learnt that, with music, you don’t lose it. I think that’s been really important. I’m 56 and the last time I did something particularly musical I was in my late 20s, maybe early 30s, when I was in a community choir. And then I just got busy with work because I was travelling, and I had to drop it. And that was it.

“It was like missing a limb, but I didn’t actually understand that until I came back and started doing something again. I’m not letting it go again. I will have to find ways, but music is going to be a part of my life in an active way, not just listening to the radio or going to concerts, I actually want to be involved in making music.

“Holly and Kate were so well tuned as to how to get the best out of people. I’ve loved having them as leaders. I think they’re really good, I’ve learnt some new skills. It has been a lovely experience.

“Although I write and I think of myself as a writer, I didn’t understand that I see the world through stories. I hadn’t realised that it’s almost a building block of how I see the world. I now understand that I’m a writer because it’s a function of vision. People who paint see images, and I see stories and I always have, and I hadn’t actually connected that that’s the way things are. But I do now, so I’ve been much, much happier.

“Yesterday I went and got all my writing practice books because I will be starting again, and one day of the weekend is going to be for my writing. I’ve got a series of books that I’ve been working on, and I’m on the third one and I haven’t done any work on it in about eight months. I’m ready. One day a week is enough even if it’s just a few hours, to get back into the routine. I’m looking forward to that.”

art:links is funded by The Mercers’ Company and Masonic Charitable Foundation.

Every day over eight million people wake up to a new day in London. For some it is the beginning of another choiceless, silent battle with loneliness.

Age UK states that more than two million people in England over the age of 75 live alone, more than a million of whom say they go for over a month without speaking to a friend, neighbour or family member. The NHS website states that “it’s shockingly easy to be left feeling alone and vulnerable, which can lead to depression and a serious decline in physical health and wellbeing”.

Barry (not his real name) is one of the thousands of older frail people who have participated in Create’s multi-artform projects designed to tackle loneliness among older people.

Meet Barry

“I live alone in a bungalow and rather than spending all day watching television and reading newspapers, I like to get out for a change of scenery and also for the opportunity to socialise. The art course gives me a chance to do something that is of interest to me.

“My wife was quite a talented amateur artist. I personally never ever painted at all, but when she passed away she left quite a bit of bone china that she hasn’t got round to painting, and obviously painting materials. So I thought if I can come on this group, and learn how to paint, and then hopefully I can try to utilise the ceramics that she has left behind. So this is my first attempt, and I hope it’s doesn’t look to horrendous.”

Projects with older people

In Create’s projects for older frail people, participants work with professional artists to explore a range of art forms – from ceramics and photography to poetry and jewellery-making. This range of art forms enables the participants to develop a variety of connected artistic and technical skills, boosting their self-esteem and creative thinking.

Musician and Create artist Graham Rix reflects on one of his Create workshops with older people – “We explored many ideas that came directly from the group, both from their actual life experiences and from their imagined song narratives to see if there were themes and specific content we could work into our songs. To get the ideas flowing we’d sing songs they already knew and then talk about the story of that song as a stepping stone to going on and talking about our own experiences and ideas for a song. We wrote any of our ideas down so we could see them, use them and remember them. We also considered looking at photos of “Magic Moments” in life (like a new born baby, V.E day parade, calf being bottle fed etc) and gathering responses to these.

“There was so much visible pride and confidence on display come the final performance. From full throttle singing to impromptu dancing, it was clear that for many this was a chance to enjoy the occasion and what we had created. I liked that there was space, given that we were singing as a group, for those that were sometimes confused – I saw them sitting back sometimes but then there were also times when they would take part whole heartedly.”

To learn more insights and statistics about loneliness and old age visit Age UK’s website. Funded by the Peoples Postcode Lottery.

creativity:revealed is Create’s multi-artform project for residents and clients of Jewish Care’s Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Campus in North West London.

Throughout November and December 2016 the participants worked together to shoot photographs, building technical, creative and social skills.

David (90) lives at home with his wife and attends Jewish Care’s Michael Sobell Community Centre twice a week. This is his story:

“My wife has been living with dementia for around four years and much of my week is structured around what she’s going to do. I try to keep things as interesting as possible for her. I take her to a singing group and she loves to listen to classical music – it’s restful and peaceful. She goes to Jewish Care’s Sam Beckman Centre for people living with dementia on Mondays and Thursdays and that’s when I come here.

“I love to be creative and I was thrilled when I found out the project was going to be photography. I’ve been taking photographs probably since I was in my early 20s or maybe even before. I have loved photography all my life. I’ve got a collection of over 100 colour transparencies of public house signs throughout the country which I’ve taken over the years. They represent much of the history and culture of England, whether it’s sport, religion, history, farming, railways, aircraft, etc.

“I think photography is an exciting subject but like anything else you’ve got to know how to do it to do it properly. It’s been stressed today that it isn’t how good the camera is, it’s whether you see something worth capturing. When we were doing public house signs we’d be somewhere in the car and my wife would say “oh, there’s one over there,” or if she saw something which would be a nice photo she’d say “that’s a good picture”. So the workshops so far have reinforced my knowledge of composition.

“Throughout the six weeks of the Create project we’re going to learn about different aspects of photography. We’ve been learning this morning about various important photographers from the past, including Cartier-Bresson, who was concerned with the ‘strategic moment’. We then took pictures of other members of the group to practice capturing movement.

“One member of the class is 97 and I’m 90. The artist leading the group, Alejandra, has been absolutely first class. She’s got empathy, pleasantness, and she’s understanding. She’s really keen on showing everyone how to do things. I’m absolutely thrilled that this is available.”