CoActive at Home

At CoActive we have been really busy making plans while we are stuck at home during the Coronavirus outbreak. We are very grateful to receive a grant from The Wakefield Coronavirus VCS Resilience Fund (from Wakefield Clinical Commissioning Group of the NHS administered by NOVA) to do work in order to encourage people to stay at home and to support their mental and physical wellbeing.

Starting with our current members, but also reaching out to others, our focus is supporting people who have learning difficulties by:
Making regular telephone contact with CoActive members.
Conducting a weekly live online session, currently Drama Story Creation.
Creating and delivering a weekly magazine type programme on DVD every week.

Click here for online version of Episode 1  'CoActive at Home.'

Many of our members do not have internet access, IT equipment, or the ability to use it at home and so are especially isolated. Many of these also live alone! All are able to play DVDs at home (and easy to set up if not), so our plan is to deliver a DVD pack every week. The deliveries will contain activity resources and we will develop a lending library of CDs, books etc, making the most of our weekly drop. We hope that this will work give meaningful activity and connect us while separated.

Our leading artists will work across their disciplines in the arts to bring stay at home activities, especially in Dance, Drama and Art. We hope the DVD format will help in creating structured activity and a structured day. Unlike mainstream TV shows of this kind we can build and draw on activities people have participated in during groups and to a certain extent we will have feedback to inform future content. For example a photograph taken on the doorstep of art work produced can lead to ideas for the next content.

The weekly magazine programme will be sent out in two forms. We are hoping to have features where CoActive members will contribute their news, feelings and creative input. Being careful with the sensitive nature of what people might share, the online content will have much less of this. The hope for the DVD distribution is to create a connected community of friends who are hearing from each other and sharing in the same creative activities. From sending in photos and videos, to relaying messages/greetings via telephone support. We are hoping that support workers, friends and family will play a key role too.