Activity groups - Activities - Upstream

Activity groups

Here are some examples of ‘Activity Groups’ in Mid Devon. Groups like these will be different in every community depending on local circumstances and on the individuals who make up the group. Mentors fit their work to the needs of each individual.

• Silverton Lunch Group: 25-30 older people identified by Wyndham House Surgery in 2003, with mentor support for 12 sessions at The Lamb Inn with lunch. Activities included drawing, living history, Tai Chi, singing, movement and laptop computers (‘taster sessions’ by East Devon College). The group remains self-sustaining with an average attendance of about 10 people and with occasional contact from the mentors and involvement in multi-group exhibitions.
  
• Silverton Art & History Group: About 10 people were helped to explore painting and local history activities (sketchbooks, art appreciation, archive records, ‘living history’, local architecture) in a group at the Silverton Community Hall and the group has succeeded in sustaining its own activities and has independently produced two books of reminiscence, put material on the BBC ‘People at War’ website and is planning an art exhibition at the local surgery. Mentors provide occasional support and the group likes to be involved in larger Upstream projects.
• Crediton Boniface Groups: Several groups have started at the Boniface Centre – print-making with Double Elephant (a 95-year-old produced the first Upstream Christmas card); Exploring Sound at the next-door Arts Centre produced their own CD; and two Variety activity groups. Some people ‘graduated’ to other activities in the community; some needed longer in the groups. An Integrated Group of older people and 6th Formers from QECC Community College is into its second cohort of students. have evolved from the original ‘Variety’ groups
• Other Crediton and Sandford groups have evolved from the original Boniface groups, including a small self-sustaining Variety group based at participants’ homes and another home-based Patchwork group. A Tai Chi Group has become independent at the Crediton Fire Station, Knitwits meets independently at the Redvers Buller pub and a Circle Dancing group has become independent at the Lamb Inn at Sandford.
• Tiverton Groups: Novice artists and writers in Tiverton, in one of Upstream’s first groups, produced a booklet of ‘Poems and Paintings’. Two of these people went on to help form the subsequently independent Witheridge Group. A second group provided community focus at John Greenway Close, where residents continue their own activities including a Tai Chi group and are involved in occasional wider Upstream projects. Several Upstream groups worked on ‘Memories of the Second World War’, which culminated in a remarkable Exhibition with more than 30 participants in Tiverton Museum linked to the BBC World War 2 project. A second Museum project is in progress on Transport. Tiverton Library Club started with mentor support and activities from local history to pottery, spinning and weaving. This group also produced memories on tape for a Tiverton Flood Project. The latest Tiverton Arts and Crafts Group is based at East Devon College and a Tiverton Exercise Group has started. Most participants have continued with some kind of regular activities, inter-group projects or consultation events. These groups are helping to forge strong relationships which make a huge difference to people’s lives. Families of participants are often very supportive.
• Witheridge ‘Rest-a-While’ Group: an isolated community with a long-running self-sustaining group, with a range of creative and physical activities and some enjoyable lunches. The group has its own Constitution and successfully applied to the Devon ‘Community Champions’ fund. (see Case Study for ‘Independent Witheridge Group’). A self-sustaining Witheridge Poetry Group required only a small amount of mentor encouragement and meets at members’ homes.
• Okehampton Art Group, started in partnership with Okehampton Community College and produced their own Calendar, with 12 examples of individual work – several people had never painted before; there were some exceptional pieces of work. Some continued a College painting course independently and mentors helped others join existing art groups or continue painting at home. Most referrals in the Okehampton area have been signposted to existing activities.
• Colebrooke: this was another spin-off from the Crediton Boniface Group, with people who came in from the Colebrooke to Crediton initially but are now being helped to establish their own independent group and have won an Awards for All grant to help them do so.
• Spreyton Computer Group resulted from a door-to-door leaflet throughout the village. A handful of people met in the school to learn basic skills. Although no longer meeting as a formal group, they have continued using their computers and are keeping in touch with each other.
• Lapford: With only a small amount of help from mentors, this group meets independently in a participant’s home every month to quilt and learn other needlework and handicraft skills which they learn from each other and from books.
• Cullompton Group: this group has received ongoing support from mentors because members have greater physical and special needs. The activities make a major contribution to participants’ lives and they have been continuing work at home by, for example, borrowing looms for weaving, etc. The Cullompton Group has recently had great success in recruiting several men. Some of the original participants helped to start the nearby Bradninch Group which now meets independently in members’ homes and remains involved in joint-group projects and consultations.
• Residential, warden-assisted and sheltered accommodation: Upstream has started a number of activities with the aim of improving quality of life and leaving a lasting imprint on participants and staff. In Crediton, occasional activities in a variety of accommodation have resulted in some people joining other Upstream groups and increasing their self-confidence and social contacts. A group in Uffculme is hoping to sustain its activities. The latest group at Ridge House, a residential home in Morchard Bishop, has just started and aims for a mixture of residents and other members of the community.