Bringing our stories to life | News from Oakwood Court

Bringing our stories to life

A new intergenerational digital story project has begun in our care homes involving residents and local secondary school children. Watch the video below to see how the first session went!

Sussex Housing & Care is working in partnership with a community group called Everyday Creativity to run the exciting ‘Bringing our stories to life’ project which is funded by a National Lottery Heritage Grant.

The first session took place at Oakwood Court care home in Haywards Heath on Monday 9 January. We welcomed five students from the local Warden Park Secondary Academy. Residents spent time chatting in pairs with the children to get to know them. Using Everyday Creativity’s set of ‘About You’ questions, they found out about all sorts of interests, including for example; favourite food, sports, holiday destinations and pets.

Supported by Everyday Creativity artists Lucy, Marisa and Sarah, over the next six weeks, students will create a short digital story about the resident they’ve got to know. The story will capture a moment of the residents’ life and will be a film about the anecdote. To see examples of digital stories we have made in a previous pilot project click here. 

Bringing our stories to life project is a great opportunity to work in a person-centred way with residents, to support them to share their stories, and in the process, enhance their connections with staff, friends and families and the local community.

Following the initial project at Oakwood Court, we will then involve residents at Saxonwood care home in Battle and Woodlands care home in Crowborough and local secondary schools in the areas.