Name: Dee Bowman
Proposed idea: An art and craft club specifically aimed at carers who have been left after the person they cared for has gone into care or has died.
Start-up funding received: £1158 for resources and initial room booking
Project start date: 20th October 2014
Sustainability measures: £2.50 charge per person per class. Products created to be sold from a stall at community events and the Welcome All Soup Lunch.
Dee on the background of her idea: It purpose will be to cater for cares left after the person they were caring for has gone into alternative care or is deceased. Also people suffering from Alzheimer’s or other conditions which makes them feel unable to join a formal teaching class. Although this will not be a structured teaching class, more a getting together of people who like or want to learn to create something artistic, be it art and crafts.- I feel there is a gap in this area and that there are a great number of people who feel lonely and lack support when their caring duties stop. My knowledge of this comes from my own recent experience of losing my husband, after caring for him for 2 ½ years. Finding that after much support while he was alive, it suddenly ceased and I felt very alone. I wish this to be a community led project and hope to encourage a ”getting together” every two weeks. Maximum number of people attending club will be ten. I will be able to seek help from friends with projects that require more supervision or specialist knowledge (e.g. silk painting, modelling, printing, etc.) I hope to work with the group with an end in view of having a stall, possibly at the Welcome All Soup Lunch and other community events. Goods can be sold and money raised put back into funds.
Dee’s reflections on the process: It went round in my head for a while and then I met up with Fiona at the Friendship Hour. We started talking about that (plan) and Fiona, in her usual way, said ‘yes that’s great, let’s think about it’. After my husband died the idea just grew. I thought it would just be a thing where I help people out, because I run the art class for the adult education here anyhow, I’ve been doing that for years. It was Fiona’s encouragement that set the whole thing going.
Since October 2014 we have had three people coming to the art club. And another lady who sadly gets dressed each time to come, by a carer, and then when she gets to the door can’t go out. But we are working on it. She want’s to come but has this fear of going over the doorstep to join in anything. It’s a very laid back class with great giggles and things. But it’s not an art class, it’s an arts and craft club. I’d rather that people come together with what they want and then they feed in much more so than me. That’s my method of teaching. It was the children that inspired me, to inspire them.
There’s a gentleman who has wanted to do art for years and years, and he lost his wife six months ago. He wants to come to fill a gap. That’s the whole essence of it. You don’t need to produce marvellous works of art. If people are enjoying themselves and getting ideas…we’re hope to carry that on further. It’s fun, and that’s what you miss when a partner goes. It’s the fun moments.
(Image by Crabchick, from Flickr)