Impact Arts

In Govan, we’ve been bridging the gap between generations with a collaborative project involving older people and nursery age children.

Over-60s who attend our Craft Cafe workshops have been working with four-year-old children from nearby Rising Stars nursery on a fun illustration project involving drawing, colouring and painting.

Each week, the children spoke about what their favourite things were before drawing and colouring them, while the Craft Cafe members also sketched outlines of their own favourite things for the children to decorate with colour.

The result was The Book of Favourites, a quirky, colourful and imaginative sketchbook including illustrations of the group’s favourite places, objects, animals and food.

Illustrations from the the book are now on display at The Studio, a shop window in Govan (at the corner of Crossloans Road and Uist Street) giving local people the chance to show their creativity to the rest of the community.

Charlotte Craig is Lead Tutor for the Craft Cafe in Govan, and she delivered the project alongside illustrator Ailsa Sutcliffe.

She says: “With this project, we aimed to connect the different age groups in the area. Creativity and arts is so often a common language between people with different experiences and backgrounds in life, so it was fantastic to offer an opportunity for different age groups to work together in this way.

“The final product is beautiful, filled with character, and really does incorporate the ideas of everybody who took part. We’re really glad the project resulted in a high quality product that everybody who took part can feel proud of.”

Craft Cafe workshops are for over-60s and run from Tuesday until Thursday each week from 10am until 4pm. They offer a safe, welcoming space for older people in the area to socialise and take part in varied artistic projects.

Funded by Elderpark Housing Association, they take place at the Elderpark Street Centre (82 Elderpark Street, Govan, Glasgow G51 3ST).

If you are interested in becoming a member or just learning more, please contact Charlotte Craig on 0141 575 3001 or at [email protected].