A pioneering relationship between a dementia care specialist and a contemporary arts centre has been recognised with a national award.
Belong and Liverpool’s Bluecoat have been working together over the past three years, with the latter’s acclaimed artists taking up residency in Belong’s Newcastle-under-Lyme care village in Staffordshire.
We Belong Together (WBT) was devised through Belong’s partnership with Liverpool’s contemporary arts centre, the Bluecoat to support customers residing at Belong care villages when government intervention placed them in lockdown, limiting social interaction. Critically acclaimed artists ran weekly virtual sessions with tenants, using a range of art forms, including ceramics, sound and storytelling.
The collaboration has recently taken home the Year of Creativity Award at the NAPA awards. There are eight Belong villages in Atherton, Chester, Crewe, Didsbury, Macclesfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Wigan and Warrington, with two more under construction in Birkdale and Wirral.
For more information, see www.belong.org.uk
Pictured: Belong Newcastle-under-Lyme residents celebrate their award win.