Making the arts accessible for older people in Pembrokeshire using community transport and the People’s Bus.
As part of a Wales-wide project to engage socially isolated older people in arts learning projects, Engage Cymru worked with Oriel y Parc, St Davids, Pembrokeshire; Pembrokeshire 50+ Forum; Bws y Bobl (The Peoples’ Bus); Ysgol Dewi Sant; Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority and artist Helen Astley.
The project was Lottery funded, through the Arts Council of Wales. It aimed to strengthen links between younger people and older people, contribute to the Pembrokeshire Health Wellbeing & Social Care Strategy and strengthen the position of the park and the gallery as an integral part of the community.
Participants attended 12 sessions – a mix of gallery based activity and trips using Bws y Bobl. Trips included an exhibition at Oriel y Parc, ‘Changing Landscapes’ with work by Graham Sutherland, Brendan Burns and Alfred Sisley, and visits to inspire appreciation of the landscape and the paintings themselves. Transport was provided free of charge by Bws y Bobl and organised by the National Park.
Outcomes included improved social interaction between different generations, enhanced appreciation of what the gallery and landscape could offer and greater involvement by older people in physical activity by exploring the landscape. All participants intended to return to the gallery with family and friends.