Etching to go! Edinburgh care home residents take part in worldwide art festival

Residents at a care home in Edinburgh picked up their pencils and went back to the drawing board for The Big Draw Festival 2021.

Residents and team members at Care UK’s Murrayside, on South Beechwood, have partnered with pioneering charity, The Big Draw, for a third successful year to promote the therapeutic benefits of drawing for expression and promoting positive wellbeing. 

 

As part of their event, residents and team members created works of art around the theme of autumnal nature, using felt pens, pencils and crayons. 

Launched in 2000 as part of the ‘Campaign for Drawing’, the month-long Big Draw Festival promotes drawing as a tool for learning, and invention, and has encouraged over four million people to get arty since its inception. ‘Make the Change’, this year’s theme, focuses on the relationship between people and their living environments, and offers a great opportunity for older people to reminisce about their favourite nature spots, how the environment has changed, and look to the future at what action can be taken to help safeguard the natural world in light of the climate crisis. 

Gill Gray, Customer Relations Manager at Murrayside, said: “It was wonderful to take part in The Big Draw for the third year – the residents were quick off the draw to get involved and put their drawing skills to the test. 

“Creative activities play a big part of life here at Murrayside, and we actively encourage residents to continue lifelong arty hobbies and try new expressive pastimes through imaginative and creative activities planned by our lifestyle team. Drawing has a variety of benefits for older people, especially those living with dementia, as it provides an alternative way to communicate and express emotions, and an opportunity to relive happy memories.

“We certainly have some budding artists here at Murrayside, and we can’t wait to display our works of art around the home.”

After a successful participation in the Big Draw Festival in the past two years, Care UK renewed its partnership in 2021 as 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, Care UK homes have been getting creative and working with their local communities virtually to create works of art around the theme ‘Make the Change’. 

Murrayside care home has been specially 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 has its own cinema, hair salon and café.

To find out more about Murrayside, please contact customer relations manager, Gillian Gray, on 0131 516 8767, or email gillian.gray@careuk.com.

For more general information, please visit careuk.com/Murrayside.