Caring Spaces
Caring Spaces is our area of work delivering experiences for unpaid carers. We have worked with VOCAL (Voice of Carers across Lothian) for many years and run blocks of online sessions with art material packs in Edinburgh and monthly in-person sessions in Dalkeith. Thanks to funding from Shared Care we have recently expanded this work to develop a partnership with Carers of East Lothian delivering monthly sessions in Musselburgh. We will bring all the groups together through gallery visits in Edinburgh.
Participants are working with our artists to experiment with many different techniques; collage, painting, clay, photography, drawing, weaving and textile work, book making to name a few.
Impact
Carers leave with renewed energy to sustain their caring role when they are able to take ‘time out’
Communities and meaningful connections can be formed when people are brought together through shared experience.
Carers have often told us that our art sessions are such an important time for them and have helped them to regain a sense of themselves and their own identity.
Our sessions can be relaxing, decrease stress, and art has been used to develop coping mechanisms to help with overwhelm.
We cover a range of different art techniques in our sessions and have seen how these activities have been passed on and benefitted those that are cared for.
