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

Home news

Nov 13, 2020

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

Care UK’s Mercia Grange, on Lichfield Road, 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 with pupils at Mere Green Primary School to create a piece of artwork titled ‘Mother Nature’. The final piece was made using a variety of techniques, including paint and collages, and features the silhouette of a woman holding the world in her hands.

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. 

Thomas Bampfield, Home Manager at Mercia Grange, said: “We loved taking part in The Big Draw Festival for a second year – and although things were a bit different this year, everyone loved celebrating all things nature.

“Here at Mercia Grange, we believe in the power of activity-based care, and art is the perfect example of how we can put this into practice, as it is an incredibly accessible activity that people of all ages can enjoy. This year’s theme gave us a lot to think about, and it was great to hear residents’ favourite nature-related anecdotes and views on how things have changed since they were young.

“We've had our creative juices flowing, and we’re thrilled with the final result – we’d like to say a big thank you to the pupils at Mere Green Primary School for their wonderful contributions.”

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’.

Mercia Grange, rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission, is a state-of-the-art care home which provides full-time residential, nursing, dementia, and short-term respite care. The three-storey care home, which features 67 ensuite bedrooms, has been designed to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives, while also promoting independence. The care home incorporates space for hobby and leisure activities and includes its own cinema, hair salon and café.

To find out more about Mercia Grange, please call Customer Relations Manager Rachel Mackay, on 0121 314 3196 or email rachel.mackay@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