cARTrefu

Cartrefu, which means to reside in Welsh, is a four year programme which aims to improve access to quality arts experiences for older people in residential care.

We’re putting older people’s artistic ambitions and needs at the centre of design and delivery, ensuring they’re at the heart of this project, which is being funded by Arts Council Wales and the Baring Foundation.

Between 2015 and 2017 Age Cymru recruited 16 professional artists in four different fields: Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Words and Music. These artists each delivered eight 8-week residencies across the length and breadth of Wales, introducing a mix of established art forms and new activities residents may not have had the chance to experience before.

As a result, over the two years, cARTrefu has delivered over 1,000 art workshops in care homes around Wales, all for free!

In 2017 cARTrefu re-launched with a brand new team of 12 artists, this time working in care homes for 12 weeks. With our second team of cARTrefu artists we want to push the boundaries of what is possible in care homes, and hope to inspire bold and striking new art work from all involved; the residents, staff, families and artists.

We hope that cARTrefu will foster a greater appreciation of the arts among care home staff as they work with our artists. We want care home staff to gain more confidence and acquire new skills, sharing and practicing them in their daily work with residents.

cARTrefu has designed an activity pack for care homes, based on the work our first cARTrefu team of artists developed in care homes. The activity pack feature 20 simple but effective activities for care home staff to run with residents and are free to all care homes in Wales.

To obtain your free pack, or if you’d like more information about cARTrefu, please get in touch cartrefu@agecymru.org.uk.