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

Home news

Nov 24, 2020

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

Care UK’s Skylark House, on St Mark’s Lane, celebrated all things arty by teaming up with pupils at Holbrook School.

Pupils and residents used trees as inspiration to create their abstract art pieces, researching a variety of techniques and using different materials. Once complete, the pupils’ artwork was then delivered to the home as part of a special competition, where residents voted on their favourite piece. The winners, Gwen in Key Stage One and Olivia in Key Stage Two, were praised for their lovely artwork.

The care home also participated in an exclusive live drawing session, by Big Draw Ambassador, Gary Andrews, an animator and illustrator who has worked on Fireman Sam and for Disney and,. Gary shared his tried and tested drawing techniques, and showed residents how to draw some of the world’s endangered animals, including sea turtles, tigers and puffins.

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.

Dorota Woloszyn, Home Manager at Skylark House, said: “The Big Draw was a huge success, and we were delighted to be able to partner with Holbrook School for this year’s celebrations.

“Art and intergenerational activities are a huge part of life here at Skylark House. Even though we were unable to meet in person, it was fantastic to partner with the pupils to create our tree-inspired artwork and share our creations.

“Congratulations to Gwen and Olivia and everyone who took part in our competition – every entry we received was fantastic, making it even more difficult to pick a winner. We’re thrilled to be showcasing our new artwork in the home and on social media for the people of Horsham to see.”

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’.

Skylark House has been designed to deliver the very best standards of care and to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives. The home provides full-time residential, nursing and dementia care, as well as short-term respite and palliative care. 

For more information on Skylark House, please call Customer Relations Manager, Beverly Jordan, on 01403 887 578 or email beverly.jordan@careuk.com

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