Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, is affecting many aspects of life in Wales at the moment. All organisations need to assess the advice that Welsh Government has provided and make judgements as to how this will affect them.
Following a detailed risk assessment and our concern for the welfare of those we work with, we've decided to move our cARTrefu workshops and activity plans online. We'll continue to monitor the situation and hope to return to working with you in person in the near future.
If you think your care home would benefit from the cARTrefu workshops, and / or having one of our artists work with you on an activity plan, then please complete the application form
cARTrefu, which means to reside in Welsh, is a six year programme run by Age Cymru which aims to improve access to quality arts experiences for older people in residential care.
cARTrefu is Age Cymru’s flagship arts in care homes project that has been running since 2015. The aim of the project is to improve the provision of creative activity in care homes and develop artist’s skills in running these sessions.
cARTrefu has now grown to become the largest project of its kind in Europe. We have been invited to talk about the project at conferences in Copenhagen, Sydney, Edinburgh, Belfast, Barcelona and London. Wales truly is leading the way when it comes to the impact of arts on well-being, particularly for those living with dementia and we’re proud that cARTrefu is a significant part of Wales’ ambitions in this field.
We hope that cARTrefu will foster a greater appreciation of the arts among care home staff as they work with our artists. We want care home staff to gain more confidence and acquire new skills, sharing and practicing them in their daily work with residents.
Over the first four years, cARTrefu delivered 1840 two-hour art workshops in over 25% of the care homes across Wales. Age Cymru has been able to offer these workshops entirely for free due to the generous support from the Arts Council of Wales and the Baring Foundation.
Thanks to further funding cARTrefu will continue for another two years. The third phase of cARTrefu began in September 2019, but differs from the two previous phases.
We're running regular half day workshops across Wales to introduce care home staff to cARTrefu, giving practical advice and tips on how to run creative activities in care homes, building staff confidence, and using existing resources.
Our artists will also work with care home staff over four weeks to develop sustainable cARTrefu activity plans, that are accessible and easy to deliver. The workshops and activity plans are both free to care homes.
We're also running free cARTrefu workshops across Wales for artists and creatives interested in learning about the cARTrefu model and an opportunity to share best practice about working in care homes, with a particular focus on supporting residents living with dementia. We have a long-term aim of building capacity within the wider arts sector to respond to the needs of the care homes.
If you think your care home would benefit from the cARTrefu workshops, and / or having one of our artists work with you on an activity plan, then please complete the application form
Another aim of the project has been to use exhibitions to raise public awareness of creative life in care homes, though the art work that's been created with and inspired by the people living in, working in and visiting care homes.
The cARTrefu Cube allows us to exhibit throughout Wales, by bringing the work of local artists to the public. We're continuing the cARTrefu Cube Tour into 2020 and beyond to exhibit the work of our cARTrefu artists, made with and in response to their time working with residents in care homes. Why not have a look at all the amazing art our Cube has featured on its tour.
If you'd like more information about our cARTrefu project, please email us
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The cARTrefu film was created by Clare Sturges and produced by Age Cymru to promote the impact of creativity in care homes through the cARTrefu project. The film is available with Welsh subtitles. Simply click on the little tog settings above and go to subtitles, then select Welsh.
