Older Somers Town residents get creative through storytelling workshops

Members of our older people project We Are Ageing Better took part in The Liminal Space’s Pivots and tales animation workshops, where they were invited to reflect on key moments in their life's journey and express their experiences creatively.

The Liminal Space, a creative consultancy who take on complex social issues and inspire the public through curated experiences, installations and engagement programmes, have been running workshops across London for older people. We partnered with them to hold two Pivots and tales animation workshops at The Living Centre, in Somers Town, and invited members from We Are Ageing Better, a project we deliver that brings older people together to share their skills and expertise and create changes in their community.

The Liminal Space artists asked the group to think back to pivotal moments in their life and reflect on how they felt at the time. Once the group had captured these experiences and emotions, they experimented with creative collage, audio and film techniques to tell their story.

Like many other activities included in We Are Ageing Better’s schedule each month, the Liminal Space workshops provided a space for our members to connect with their community, reflect on their own experiences and wellbeing, and express themselves creatively in a supportive environment.

One participant shared with the group how funny she’d found one of the exercises which involved drawing with their non-dominant hand, not to mention whilst wearing a blindfold.

Mary, a We Are Ageing Better member who attended the workshops, explained that she had only recently joined the project and she really loves the The Living Centre as a space for the community. When asked why she decided to get involved with our older people’s project, she described herself as ‘curious’, saying she had wanted to meet new people and try out different activities in the borough.

In her efforts to try new things, she signed up to the animation workshops here at The Living Centre. She enjoyed thinking back to key, emotional events in her life and remembering her state of being at the time, before creating a sort of artistic graph to represent all this. For her, it was a chance for people to ‘let their creative side out without thinking about it too much’.