Lights Up Carterton
In 2012 West Oxfordshire District Council started a
Lights Up memory club in Chipping Norton, because there
was a gap in provision for people living with dementia.
A second Lights Up club was launched in June 2014 for Carterton.
Lights Up means lighting the time to come. These clubs are about
enabling people living with dementia to live well in the community.
What’s different about Lights Up Memory Clubs is that they
have creativity and the arts at the heart. Professional artists run
workshops where people learn and try out new skills, such as music,
dance, drawing and painting, felt-making, and creating a radio play
(‘Chaos in Carterton’ was recently aired on local hospital radio).
Why the arts?
The arts can help to meet some deep human needs. They bring
pleasure, offer a fresh way of looking at things and enrich all our lives.
They can also help us be more creative, communicate, make
our mark, find our voice and make sense of the world around us.
Art is flexible – there is no right or wrong way which means
there is no pressure on people who can struggle doing things.
Lights Up artists make no assumptions about ability,
knowledge or experience of participants. They offer creative
arts that engage the senses and stimulate emotions.
They don’t make demands of skills that decline in dementia.
External evaluation of Lights Up found that the benefits of
arts for people with dementia include improved
self-confidence and increased individual concentration.
Professional co-ordinators from Guideposts Trust lead each Lights Up
meeting. To ensure the service is accessible, there is no charge to attend.
Hannah Cervenka, Arts and Leisure Development Manager, WODC
“I love coming to Lights Up. There’s always something different.
We have a good laugh and it keeps the brain active.”
(Jean, a participant at Lights Up Carterton).
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