The Big Draw are thrilled that the UK's largest independent provider of health and social care, Care UK, are official sponsors of The Big Draw Festival 2021, this year themed: Make the Change. This is the third year Care UK has taken part in The Big Draw Festival.
In October 2021, Care UK hosted Big Draw Festival events in care homes across the UK. Activities embraced this year's Festival theme by encouraging participants to discover their creative sides, get back to nature and explore themes of positive activism.
Residents create collages inspired by the local community and wildlife around the care homes. 
Charcoal & Textures for Care UK
In February 2022, Care UK took part in a compulsive charcoal and texture workshop with artist Liz Atkin. Liz led a zoom workshop shared with Care UK homes across the country, inviting residents to work with newspaper and compressed charcoal and explore a range of techniques and textures.
Liz Atkin, a Big Draw Ambassador, is well know for creating ‘Compulsive Charcoal’ artworks on discarded newspapers and giving them to commuters as an act of kindness and advocacy. You can read more about this and Liz's work and inspirations here in a Big Draw interview in 2019.
CARE UK HOMES TAKE PART IN THE BIG DRAW!
Throughout October 2021, Care UK’s care homes up and down the country worked with residents to get their creative skills down to a fine art, and have fun! They created a range of artistic ideas for residents to engage with, from recreating famous paintings at Sandfields Care Home in Gloucestershire, to creating collages inspired by nature at Field Lodge in St Ives.
Take a closer look at what Care UK residents have been up to in press cuttings below:
'Gloucestershire care-home residents recreate famous art'
The Big Draw 2021 at Sandfields Care Home featured in The BBC Gloucestershire | Published 8 November 2021 | Read Here
'Orpington care home residents are etching to go as they take part in a worldwide art festival'
The Big Draw 2021 at Foxbridge House featured in Your Area Community News | Published 7 November 2021 | Read Here
'St Ives care home residents take part in worldwide art festival'
The Big Draw 2021 at Foxbridge House featured in The Hunts Post | Published 11 November 2021 | Read Here
Care UK and The Big Draw
This is the third year in a row that Care UK are taking part in The Big Draw Festival. Starting in 2019, more than half of Care UK’s 120 homes teamed up with schools, nurseries and groups of young people to draw, craft and create together alongside residents as part of their Big Draw Festival 'Drawn to Life' activities. You can read our blog piece on Big Draw events in 2019 at one of Care UK's care homes, Sherwood Grange, here.
In 2020, due to the challenges presented by Covid19, Care UK explored a more digital approach to their Big Draw events, bringing Care UK care homes together with a series of livestreamed workshops with Big Draw Patron, Gary Andrews. It was paramount that both Care UK and The Big Draw were able to continue to encourage intergenerational participation remotely.
Pictured above: Big Draw Patron, Gary Andrews and his daily doodles.
Why is Care UK taking part in the Big Draw Festival?
Drawing, combined with the power of intergenerational relationships, can have multiple benefits for older people, especially those living with dementia.This collaboration is a wonderful celebration that it's never too late to explore your creative side!
The Big Draw believes drawing is an essential human skill important in all walks of life. We believe everyone can draw and everyone should have the opportunity to explore the benefits of a more creative life. Through our global Festival we work to break down the many barriers that prevent people from being actively creative.
Please note: all images shown on this page are from events that took place within a single care home and CareUK are taking every precaution necessary to ensure the safety of their residents and employees.
Care UK are The Big Draw Festival 2021: Make the Change lead Sponsor-Partners
About Care UK
Care UK is one of the largest providers of residential care for older people. With a talented team of over 10,000 colleagues, Care UK operate 120 care homes with places for around 7,000 mostly older people.
Their homes provide an impressive suite of care services for older people, ranging from short respite stays to high level nursing care. They are particularly skilled at providing specialist care and support for people living with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
Care UK are proud to be building so many brand new, carefully designed care homes - they have opened over 30 new homes since 2011 and expect to open around 15 new homes by the summer of 2021 in locations including Bristol, Bracknell, Chester and Maidstone.
The quality of their services, as rated by the CQC in England and the Care Inspectorate in Scotland, compares very favourably with other providers. More of Care UK’s homes are rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ than those run by the other four largest UK care home providers.
To find out more about Care UK’s see https://www.careuk.com/care-homes/
