Hi,

Please see below a press release regarding the work of the Home Service project.

An unusual art intervention helped spark fresh conversations in a Cornish care home this month, whilst highlighting a larger debate about opportunities for creativity and acts of imagination in older age.

The Home Service project is designed to enrich the lives of older people living in care homes - in this case a home which specialises in dementia.

Images are attached (please see notes below). If you would like more information or images, or to interview any of the people involved, please email me.

Kind Regards,

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PRESS RELEASE

TO: News Desk

FROM: Home Service

DATE: 29^thJanuary 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Unusual Art Project Sparks Care Home Conversation

A project which brings artists and creative experiences into care homes in Cornwall, saw an innovative concept become reality this week.

Led byArts for Health Cornwallin Penryn, the Home Service project is designed to enrich the lives of older people living in care homes.

This week a specially designed artwork, in the form of a range of crockery, was put to use for the first time by care home residents.

Designed in collaboration with residents and staff, the cups and saucers are intended to help spark conversation and rekindle memories amongst the residents at the home, which specialises in caring for people with various forms of dementia.

Each identified by a different word, the range of cups and saucers are the work of artist Jonty Lees, who has been developing ideas for an original and practical art intervention at Crossroads House Care Home in Scorrier for several months.

The cups and saucers were delivered last week and will be used at mealtimes and tea breaks, becoming an integral part of these important daily routines.

Jonty explained the concept:

"I wanted the lasting legacy of my project at Crossroads House to reflect the importance of conversation; it's not always easy for us to find that point of departure that sparks a conversation - that helps us identify shared aspects of our individual history."

The cups and saucers, inscribed with a single word free from any context, act as a prompt or visual trigger, which stimulates the imagination or provokes an unexpected response.

Jonty tested out words using flashcards, choosing 100 which inspired the most reaction. The cups and saucers were then specially made by British-Japanese designer Reiko Kaneko using Fine bone China.

Like other artists taking part in the project, Jonty's work has been commissioned in collaboration with Cornwall's top art institutions; in this case Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange.

Gallery Director James Green, who visited the care home as the cups and saucers were delivered, commented:

"This deceptively simple idea will have a real and lasting impact, promoting greater contact and engagement amongst the residents, and also with their visitors and the care home staff."

He added:

"Jonty's work is part of a larger conversation about the relationship between older people and the arts - about what more we can do to provide opportunities for creativity, and what we might learn from encouraging greater scope for acts of imagination in older age."

Home Service is a three year initiative which will have a lasting impact; other strands of the project include storytelling, dance, theatre and music.

Arts partners areHall for CornwallandKEAPin Truro,Newlyn Art Gallery& The Exchange,Wren Musicin Okehampton andCreativity Worksin Bath and North East Somerset. Care organisations involved areBrunel Carein Bristol;Cornwall Carewho are Cornwall wide; andAnson Carebased in Redruth, Penzance and Portreath, withFalmouth Universityalso playing a key role in the project.

Home Service is funded byArts Council EnglandandThe Baring Foundation, who jointly committed over £250,000 to the project in January 2014.

For more information about the scheme please contact Jayne Howard, Director of Arts for Health Cornwall on 01326 377772 orjayne@artsforhealthcornwall.org.uk.

ENDS--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EDITOR'S NOTES:

CONTACT: Please contact Lucy Cornes at Eventy - Marketing & PR on 01326 376273 orlucy@eventy.co.uk.

PHOTO: Low res images are attached. Please contactlucy@eventy.co.ukif you would like more images or require high resolution copies.

Images show an example of one of the cups, some of the range displayed in Jonty's workshop, and residents at Crossroads Care Home in Scorrier enjoying a tea break with their new crockery.

FURTHER INFO: Home Service was established in 2014 by Arts for Health Cornwall who applied for funding from Arts Council England and the Baring Foundation, through their Arts and Older People Programme.

Led by Arts for Health Cornwall who have collaborated with other leading care and arts providers in the county, the charity is excited that this project and its funding will put Arts for Health Cornwall and Isles of Scilly on the national map for its progressive and innovative thinking.

A government survey has shown that, despite the positive impact the arts can have on the physical, mental and social well-being of older people, over 75-year-olds have a much lower engagement in the arts than other age groups. Home Service aims to address this and provide a bridge between older people and the wider community.

Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange - Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange exists because of a long history of contemporary art making in the far west of Cornwall and have celebrated contemporary art and supported the artists that produce it for 120 years. The galleries continue to present contemporary work in all media by regional, national and international artists, with a programme of events, activities and education.