Extraordinary Changes at Rowan New Community Facilities

Newsletter Helping People with Learning Disabilities Thrive

Extraordinary Changes at Rowan

2016 was a memorable year for Rowan - a complete restructuring of the internal layout of the ground floor of the building, making the building fit for purpose for the forseeable future.

Creating art, Improving lives March 2017 - Newsletter 21

Rowan Open Day Saturday 8 April 11am - 4pm

Thanks to funding support from Cambridge City Council S106 Developer Contributor for Community Facility, The Wolfson Foundation, Amey Community Fund, a bequest, other trusts & foundations and individual donations, the refurbished and reconfigured facilities ensure that the needs of people with learning disabilities in the future can be met in terms of space and their welfare. We are truly grateful.

Come and see our new facilities, take part in free family friendly ceramic workshops and share your memories of the River Cam as part of our Heritage Lottery project.

Two new studios, with a further five refurbished studios, new and improved toilet facilities including one with an adult changing-table and hoist, new kitchens and services, with significant changes to the layout, enable us to provide better opportunities and more activities for learning-disabled people, including a new music and performing arts programme as part of our daily schedule.

Value of the Arts

We have identified that without Rowan, and funding support from other external funding sources, 80% of our learning disabled students would have little or no contact with any cultural activities. Rowan’s dedicated staff and volunteers ensure that our students are able to take part in a wide range of activities that enables and enriches people’s lives.

New Community Facilities

We are now able to hire rooms and studios to the wider community. The excellent facilities are already drawing interest from ceramic and drawing groups and we hope that this will contribute to raising the profile of people with learning disabilities and our work at Rowan. If you are interested in hiring our studios or taking part in an art class, take a look at our website for more information: rowanhumberstone.co.uk/hire/hire-our-facilities and rowanhumberstone.co.uk/hire/courses email [email protected] or telephone 01223 566027.

Student Places

We have more student spaces available at Rowan now and the groups will continue to remain small. Please contact us to book a visit and free taster session.

Creating art, Improving lives

www.rowanhumberstone.co.uk

New Benches for local Hospital

Treasured Tree comes to Rowan

During 2016 we were commissioned by Nuffield Health Cambridge Hospital to make benches which sit alongside a commission by artist Simon Faithfull, as part of the Hospital’s public-art provision.

Rowan has been commissioned to create commemorative coasters from sections of the beloved Cambridge cherry tree described as “the most photographed tree in the world”. The iconic tree, which has sat in front of Clare College’s Old Court for around 70 years, had to be cut down after contracting a deadly fungus. Once seasoned, our students will be transforming the saved logs and giving them a new purpose. Please contact us if you would like to commission us.

Learning and Teaching others - Elizabeth’s Story Out and About

A core aspect of our work at Rowan is to get out and about and to take part in a wide range of activities beyond the daily work in our studios. During the refurbishment of Rowan, Anglesey Abbey, Cambridge University Botanic Garden, Milton Country Park and The Fitzwilliam Museum were very supportive and enabled us to have entirely new experiences.

One of our students, Elizabeth, has found she has a talent for textiles. She has thrived and gained confidence in this workshop, learning many new skills including how to knit, an accomplishment that she is now teaching others. We encouraged her to tell her story: “I first learned to knit at Rowan last March. I enjoyed doing it at home too. I showed my Rowan friend Nia how to because she is left-handed too. We did it at break and lunchtime then last May we set up a knitting club for other students at Rowan.

First I knitted squares to make a knitting bag as a present for my Mum then I saw a picture of a big knitted patchwork blanket in a shop window, part of an art exhibition, which inspired me to make a double bedspread for my Mum and Dad as a secret surprise for Christmas. They were really happy. I knitted so much, that by January this year there were 215 spare squares. I am now working on a pink and grey blanket for Lima, one of our tutors at Rowan, and a very special sunset landscape-themed one for our summer event, Cambridge Open Studios.”


How art helps me - Jo’s Story “I started drawing when I was 4 and at 45 I’m still going! I really love art. It really, really helps me. I think Rowan is wonderful. This place is fantastic. The staff are very nice and when I come here it helps me relax. It keeps me busy and my mind busy too.

Music at Rowan

In 2016, Rowan introduced music to the delight of our students. This combination of the visual arts and other art forms is a powerful tool to raise abilities, confidence and self-esteem.

I love drawing and using different materials; my favourite is watercolour painting and mixing colours. I love doing flowers, animals and birds. I like being with my friends in textiles too. I really like sewing. I made a quilt and I made a landscape that got sold. I couldn’t believe it! I was very happy and proud of myself. This is the best place I’ve ever been. It helps me a lot. I think this place works very well for me. It helps my anxiety as sometimes I have panic attacks. It doesn’t happen very often now as this place is so good. I come to Rowan three times a week and I really love it here. I find it really calming.”

Performing Arts at Rowan

A strong partnership has developed between social theatre group, Acting Now, and Rowan. Led by Marina Palleras, the partnership has brought great benefits to Rowan’s students who performed their first play in 2016. This work is set to continue with funding support from the Big Lottery.

We found that students who take part in a wider range of activities are more socially aware, confident and creative. This enables their further engagement with the wider life of Rowan and beyond. With funding support from a range of trusts and foundations we have been able to appoint a part-time Music Tutor and Coordinator, Zoë Austin, who is supporting our students to learn new skills, collaborate and make music. She is developing partnerships with music organisations in the city and ensuring our students get involved in a wide choice of music activity.

The performing arts were completely new to Mark but he was keen to take part. It gave him a completely new way of interacting with people and experiencing the world around him. “Acting makes me feel happy. It makes me happy because I never did it before. I wasn’t nervous because I was in a group with Marina. I like being with her. Acting makes me a superstar”. Without the opportunities offered at Rowan Mark may never have discovered how much he enjoyed acting or been able to be part of a performance.


Volunteering

We are looking for more volunteers. Could you help? Various roles are available, from events and marketing to supporting learning-disabled students in the studios; there are a range of ways you could join in. For more information: rowanhumberstone.co.uk/ support-us/volunteering/

River Stories

With funding support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, our students have been learning about the heritage of the River Cam. Working with historians, museums and archives we have been seeing extraordinary objects and art, and creating our own, inspired by the stories and memories of the river and its people. We are recording people’s memories that will become part of the Museum of Cambridge’s Capturing Cambridge project. If you have a story to share with us, please do get in touch.

Running for Rowan

Kirstin, who works for Rowan, ran the Cambridge Half Marathon this March raising funds for Rowan. If you would like to support us in a similar activity please get in touch.

from left Heather, Kirstin, Elizabeth and Marie

Creating art, Improving lives Des Trollip, Director of Operations [email protected] Marketing and Development Manager

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40 Humberstone Road Cambridge, CB4 1JG 01223 566027 www.rowanhumberstone.co.uk

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RowanHumberstone If you would like to receive information about Rowan by email, including future newsletters, please contact us. Registered Charity No. 1099555

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Supporting Rowan

Giving to Rowan supports our continuing vital work and helps us give people with learning disabilities the life of their choice. All donations both large and small make a difference to what we are able to do. Please contact us for more information about how you can help. rowanhumberstone.co.uk/support-us/donate Dear Supporter, As I sign off this latest newsletter from Rowan, in its new format, I fully realise why we have had to grow the size of the pages: there is more news than ever to report to you. Hand in hand with Rowan’s premises growing in size, so has the breadth of our students’ activities. Every time I visit Rowan there is a new venture underway. Which is precisely why we expanded and reconfigured our building: so that our students can enjoy and learn different skills through the extending of our programme to include new art forms of drama, music and dance; enjoy table tennis; and sit comfortably all together at lunchtime. Gradually, too, the community is making out-of-hours use of our premises, so quite soon I expect we shall have even more news to bring you. Long may it continue to be so. Warmest wishes, Margaret Phillips, Chairman

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