Creative art sessions for people with dementia and memory problems

People in Calderdale with dementia and memory problems and their carers are invited to join local arts company Verd de Gris to capture the feeling of Spring through poetry, music and art.

The creative art sessions are free and run every Tuesday between 2.30 – 4.30pm starting 16th April at Hebden Bridge Town Hall, St George’s Street, Hebden Bridge HX7 7BY.

The sessions have been developed in association with the Alzheimer’s Society and are partly funded through South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s Creative Minds scheme.

Verd de Gris is a not-for-profit company based in Hebden Bridge, which works to develop a range of stimulating and meaningful projects for older people. As well as creating opportunities for artistic expression it advocates for new ways of working with and responds to the needs of older people.

Jeff Turner at Verd de Gris said, “We all have feelings about the seasons and our local landscape; the beautiful cold clear skies, the heavy weight of January rain and blasted moorland. These creative sessions are an opportunity to come together and try something new, while exploring the feelings associated with the seasons. Now Spring is here it’s the perfect time to try something new! Verd de Gris provides a warm and friendly environment so why not come and give it a go!”

Verd de Gris was chosen as a creative partner by South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and is part of a growing infrastructure of community organisations who are working with the Trust to provide creative projects to local people.

As part of Creative Minds the Trust aims to support voluntary and community organisations, like Verd de Gris, to deliver a variety of creative projects to help improve the health and wellbeing of local people.

These new creative art sessions are part of Verd de Gris’s wider project Changing Landscapes, which aims to provide a new service for older people who want to get creative and stay healthy. It offers creative and cultural opportunities directed at improving the quality of life, health and social integration of older people in Calderdale.

More information about Creative Minds can be found at www.southwestyorkshire.nhs.uk/creativeminds

For more information about the creative art sessions please contact Sharon at Verd de Gris on 07598 387772.