Ready, set, draw – Sale care home residents take part in worldwide art festival

Home news

Oct 29, 2020

Residents at a care home in Sale picked up their pencils and went back to the drawing board for The Big Draw Festival 2020.

Care UK’s Oakfield Croft, on Oakfield, celebrated all things nature by creating works of art around this year’s theme, ‘a Climate of Change’.  

As part of their event, residents and team members joined forces to create a large painting representing all four seasons, using various techniques and materials, from paint to woolly pompoms.

Residents also enjoyed an exclusive live drawing workshop centred around endangered animals, hosted by illustrator and author Gary Andrews and organised virtually in partnership with The Big Draw. Residents and team members were able take part in the draw-along with Gary, a former Disney illustrator, as he drew a variety of animals, including koalas, polar bears, puffins and sea turtles, and explained various drawing techniques, including shading and under-drawings.

Launched in 2000 as part of the ‘Campaign for Drawing’, the month-long Big Draw Festival promotes drawing as a tool for learning, expression and invention, and has encouraged over four million people to get arty since its inception. ‘A Climate of Change’, this year’s theme, focuses on the relationship between people and their environment, and offers a great opportunity for older people to reminisce about their favourite nature spots, as well as trips to the great outdoors in their younger years, and how our focus looking after our planet has changed in recent years. 

Daniel Cole, Home Manager at Oakfield Croft, said: “We had a great time taking part in The Big Draw this year, and it was a wonderful opportunity to put our creativity to the test.

“The arts are a huge part of life here at Oakfield Croft. As well as being a great way to develop our creative skills, they can improve wellbeing and provide older people with a sense of purpose. The draw-along session was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone taking part, Gary was a fantastic host and always made sure to explain the techniques he was using, often adding even more examples to illustrate, and sharing his top tips with residents.

“It was a fantastic drawing session, and everyone left with a smile on their face – we’re all looking forward to getting our pencils and brushes out again very soon!”

After a successful participation in the Big Draw Festival last year, Care UK renewed its partnership in 2020, becoming the main health and social care partner and leading the way in changing perceptions of life in a care home by promoting activity-based care and encouraging other care homes to follow suit. Across the country, more than 70 homes have been getting arty and working with their local communities virtually to create works of art around the theme ‘A Climate of Change’.

Oakfield Croft, which opened earlier this year, has been designed to enable residents to live active and fulfilling lives, while also promoting independence. The new care home incorporates space for hobby and leisure activities. The layout of the building is configured into a series of individual suites, each having a dedicated lounge/dining room to help facilitate the creation of close-knit communities, as well as facilities like a cinema, coffee shop and hair salon.

For more information on Oakfield Croft, please contact the customer relations manager Jayne Eyre on jayne.eyre @careuk.com or call 0161 820 4019.   

To find out more about Care UK’s partnership with the Big Draw, and for more top tips on how you and your loved ones can get involved at home, visit careuk.com/care-homes/bigdraw

To find out more about the Big Draw festival, please go to thebigdraw.org