In every care home an orchestra

How it all began

Of the 11 conclusions reached by the Baring Foundation in their Every Care Home A Creative Home report (2022), two highlighted the need to recognise from day one the cultural and creative needs of every single person in a care home. By that, we also need to include staff, management, ancillary workers, family members and those who care for day visitors at home.  

When Covid-19 hit in 2020, we shifted from standing shoulder-to-shoulder with students to directly facing them, often on poor connections, as they returned home to rural settings or households in which siblings were studying or playing games. Some preferred to leave the cameras off and sometimes we misheard each other or froze. We adapted and tried to establish a ‘what can we do?’ culture rather than reflect on what was out of reach. 

This period gave me the confidence and knowledge for when Belong asked us to develop online sessions to combat isolation across their care home villages but also as respite from the incredible pressures the sector was under. The online sessions I delivered as part of the longer Where the Arts Belong programme between Belong and Bluecoat, truly humbled me as I witnessed first-hand the commitment and compassion of the Belong staff working with those affected by dementia, especially during lockdown.

We wanted it to be fun, light and slightly off-kilter. We wanted to use what was at hand to form orchestras in people’s homes and in small bubbles in the villages. We sent them megaphones, rulers to twang, metal dog bowls to tap, whistles, bicycle bells and bubble machines. We watched videos of The Vegetable Orchestra and Penguin Café Orchestra’s brilliant use of a rubber band as instrument. 

I became a conductor from my studio (garden shed) and found that from the first session I had to work completely differently. I had to perform, even over-perform which is not in my nature. The staff and I filled every silent gap of those online sessions and stuck at it through some challenging weeks. We all made unusual sounds to create soundtracks for journeys that took our imaginations away from the here and now. 

I tested out the use of tongue twisters as warm up exercises. Occasionally the bad connection caused misunderstandings or delays but that all added to the overall hilarity of these funny uses of language that did not require memory. There was a simplicity in us all trying to read quickly Can you can a canner as a canner can can a can or Red Lorry Yellow Lorry.

Crewe wanted a day at the beach and created an extraordinary sound piece that began with the sunny sounds of donkeys, distant yacht sails and ice cream vans before a stroll to the rollercoaster for faster sounds and a climatic finale. One resident in Crewe, Mary, turned out to be an absolute wizard at tongue twisters, no matter how hard we challenged her (accents, backwards, different languages), eloquently reeling them off through a megaphone.

Staff Emma and Jessica brought in sun cream, an inflatable shark and shells and donned bikinis over their uniforms as Mary confidently recited She sells sea shells on the seashore.  

From recordings made during these lockdown sessions, we compiled the Conversations LP and I left my own voice in the mix for the first time, capturing moments between myself, Belong staff and isolated elderly people who, for those sessions, all became experimental sound artists and poets.

The LP was launched at the Making sense (of it all) exhibition at Bluecoat in Liverpool and both the Markel Third Sector Care Creative Arts and NAPA Year of Creativity Awards were appropriate acknowledgments for all our hard work through stressful times (with particular thanks to Betty Ritchie and Tabitha Moses at Bluecoat for co-ordinating the hectic schedule of online sessions). Plus, I got to accept the former award on stage from Angela Rippon and recite some tongue twisters with her - even celebrities and avid campaigners for improved (dementia) care home recruitment have creative needs!

About ‘Where the Arts Belong’

The project, funded by Department of Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) via Arts Council England, explored the use of sound art within supported settings across Liverpool during the Covid-19 lockdown in March 2021. The project aimed to tackle and understand the impact of contemporary art in combatting loneliness in care settings.

The multi-award-winning project took part over a 10-week period and involved 48 village apartment tenants who had not socialised for many months and were experiencing loneliness and isolation as a result. ‘Where the Arts Belong’ gave them the chance to interact with artists and participate in creative activities and it continues as a research initiative led by Dr Alan Dunn from Leeds Beckett University.

‘Where the Arts Belong’ has won the Markel Third Sector Care Creative Arts and NAPA Year of Creativity Awards this year.

Leeds Beckett University is a Principal Education Partner of Leeds 2023, embarking on a year-long celebration of culture that will continue to showcase the amazing work of its student, academic, and graduate communities in Leeds and the wider region.

To learn more about Leeds Beckett University’s involvement in the Leeds 2023 Year of Culture, please visit our partner website.

For more information about Leeds School of Arts, please visit the school website.