An intergenerational creative writing project has seen local primary school pupils come together with residents of Cornelia Heights care home in Ryde for a very special teddy bear’s picnic with Independent Art’s very own Henry Bear.
For some weeks the children of Dover Park Primary School and residents of Cornelia Heights have been working on a series of stories with community writer Ann Emery, telling of Henry’s adventures swishing above Island roof tops in a hot air balloon; getting into bother with a ticket collector on the Isle of Wight steam train; falling through a space portal; trying out some old time dancing and of course eating a great deal of cake on the way.
The project has seen children learning about the impact of dementia and memory loss and concluded last month with an invitation to Cornelia Heights to perform the stories and to enjoy a bear’s picnic in the garden with the residents. Many of the children took along their own much-loved bears and several of the Cornelia Heights staff had bears in tow as well.
Workshops coordinator Kerry Tindall-Guignard said:
“We are so grateful to the staff at both Dover Park School and Cornelia Heights care home for all the work and effort they put into both the project itself, and to making the morning so special.
“Independent Arts really believes in the enduring power of the imagination, and the value of creative expression for both young and old. The stories, poems and paintings that have sprung from this project are a wonderful testament to the connections that have been made between two very different worlds”.
