About Us
We are a leading creative ageing charity supporting older people and those living with dementia in Gateshead, Newcastle and across the UK.
Our team works to improve the lives of older people through creativity and our arts activities around the country provide creative opportunities to help improve people's wellbeing.
Memory may diminish but imagination remains.
Our work focuses on giving people the opportunity to explore their imagination and live in the moment.
We strongly believe in the health benefits of the arts and support care staff and artists to deliver musical, visual and movement-based creative activities with active older people and those living with dementia.
"We have worked hand in hand with Equal Arts for the past five years and we understand and actively support meaningful activities for people who use our service."
"From the service users and the staff team at Shadon, I would like to express our thanks to the charity for providing new stimulating ideas for us all to enjoy and participate in."
"We have shared our approach to supporting and enabling people with many other care settings and would actively encourage them to create links with Equal Arts and embrace their support."Joanne Mathewson, manager of Shadon House dementia assessment unit awarded Outstanding by the CQC in 2016.
Testimonials
View more TestimonialsMaking A Difference
As pioneers in the field of creative ageing we have seen the benefits creative care can bring to the thousands of people we’ve been privileged to work with.
There is evidence people with dementia are creative once other cognitive impairments have taken over and it’s our belief creative care should sit alongside physical care.
We are committed to continuing our work with the health, social care and culture sectors encouraging them to deliver a better offer to older people with innovative and creative interventions.
Our well-established understanding and delivery of creative ageing has seen us asked to inform and advise many organisations over the years, below are just some of our highlights:
- Sitting on the advisory group for the Government's initiative to make the arts sector more dementia-friendly
- Received an international award for Innovation in Arts and Health from Arts & Health Australia
- Speaking as a 'thought leader' at the National Centre of Creative Ageing's conference and leadership exchange in Washington DC in 2016
- Being named as a finalist in the North East's Charity of the Year
- Invited to Japan by The Baring Foundation and the British Council to help inform and influence
- Advising the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust on arts and older people, delivering a presentation at Tate Modern worked with the Royal Academy on supporting the arts sector to deliver arts and dementia projects
- Delivering a presentation and workshop at Practice and Progress: The MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) Alzheimer's Project Exchange in New York in 2013.
- Enriched the work and business skills of independent artists with our Creative Age training.
- Supporting arts and cultural venues to widen their offer providing excellence for economically deprived and socially marginalised older people.
- Our profile and reputation has attracted visits to share best practice from the Department of Culture in South Korea, Wendy Moyles Director of Menzies Health Institute, Griffiths University, Australia, and Dutch arts and care organisation Kunst in de Zorg.
- Committed to providing Great Art for marginalised older people who represent a vast and increasing part of our population.
- In 2015/16 we provided high quality arts projects with 4,199 older people, 1,488 school children, 69 care settings, 84 artists, eight arts venues, 179 volunteers and 212 care staff.
We aim to
- Improve older people's access to the arts
- Help combat the isolation of older people through participatory arts projects
- Support research to further develop the field of creative ageing
- Work with partners to raise the profile and understanding of creative ageing and arts and dementia
- Support and train artists and care staff to ensure good practice and skill development.
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