Creative Age project is in partnership with Equal Arts. Creative Age North provides older people living with dementia and other long-term conditions and their carers the opportunity to take part in creative and inclusive activities, celebrate their achievements, and support ongoing activity through Challenge fundraising.

The aim was to improve participants’ creative confidence and sense of well-being whilst providing an opportunity to develop the skills and experience of artists working with people with dementia.

The project was delivered by professional artists skilled in engaging older people with dementia and using the ‘Imagination model’ of engagement as well as artists training in that model of engagement.

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Normally the Let’s Meet Up Art meets up every Friday in Seaham to work with an artist and create artwork together.

Due to the COVID-19 situation in 2020 the group were prevented from attending the weekly meetings and the groups’ sessions had to be cancelled.  However, never one to be defeated, we worked with the Let’s Meet Up Art group to ensure that they would still be able to continue their workshops, albeit in a slightly different format.

These changes saw the group go digital and meet online each week over Zoom. The group worked with artist Claire Ford and arts organisation Equal Arts, who posted the materials and creative packs needed for each session to group members. The Let’s Meet Up Art group could begin some of the creative activities in their own time and then come together to share their work and discuss it every Friday lunchtime over Zoom. For example, over a fortnight the group were sent a workshop in a pizza box and had the task of turning the boxes into collaged artworks around the theme of Spring.

East Durham Creates and the Let’s Meet Up Art group want to extend the invite out to more members of our community to get involved! If you have an early diagnosis of dementia or memory problems & live in East Durham please join us for fun, relaxed virtual sessions and who knows what art pack you will receive next through your letterbox! To join the group email Jess at jess@eastdurhamcreates.co.uk or send us a direct Facebook message.