Honouring Chalkhill’s past, present and future community
Together Forever is a multi-disciplinary, intergenerational community wellbeing project in support of the whole community of Chalkhill.
Honouring the people, places, and memories of the Chalkhill community, the project provides a unique opportunity to bring the whole community together, to share, reflect, and listen across a range to topics related to positive mental health and wellbeing.
In designing and leading the project, my aims were to:
– Create a safe space for the community (different generations) to connect and talk about the impact of people’s experiences on their life’s/ mental health and well-being.
– Use art as an avenue to express people’s feelings and capture people’s stories, for those stories and memories to live on.
The project activity was intended for two primary audiences:
– Local children, many of whom attend Chalkhill Primary school (years 5-6)
– Residents, visitors, and regular users of Chalkhill Community Centre
Through the facilitation of creative and therapeutic wellbeing workshops, and feedback sessions the project would culminate in the painting of a large-scale memorial mural within the Chalkhill Community Centre, to act as a legacy to preserve the memory of those who have passed away, while also maintaining an accessible space for the whole community.
Poetry Resource book
The engagement with young people was enhanced by the use of a specially edited poetry resource book, featuring a series of poetry-based resilience activities, providing pupils with opportunities to discuss and explore wellbeing and mental health, specifically grief and loss through ideas, expression, and performance.
Readers were invited to participate in several poetry-led activities, sharing different poetic styles from classical through to the modern era, whilst gaining an understanding of creative writing and poetic vocabulary.
Activities included poems to read and reflect upon, poems to write and explore feelings, poems to engage with others, and poems to perform.