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“The Forgotten Folks” project is to encourage elderly people to get active and healthier through participation in fun workshops that use elements of African arts and culture to break down the social isolation and health problems that older people often experience.

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Categories

  • Arts/Culture/Heritage Arts/​Culture/​Heritage
  • Community Support & Development Community Support & Development
  • Health/Wellbeing Health/​Wellbeing
  • Beneficiaries

    Situation

    Newham is the most ethnically diverse borough in London and also one of the most deprived, with many elderly people living in 'pensioner poverty'. The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment Report 2009 by the Office of National Statistics state "there is robust evidence that deprivation is also associated with poor health including premature death". From the pilot and consequent focus group we conducted for this project we found isolation to be a serious concern for elderly people in Newham.

    Solution

    IROKO Theatre Company plan to use a combination of activities based around traditional African theatre methods, including music-making, drumming, dancing and clay modelling as a means of encouraging elderly people to engage in exercise and be more active within the community. The activities will be held in four areas in Newham, by doing this we keep the activities local enough that older people can get to them easily, but also gets them to a central place where they can interact with new people.

    100%
    Categories

  • Arts/Culture/Heritage Arts/​Culture/​Heritage
  • Community Support & Development Community Support & Development
  • Health/Wellbeing Health/​Wellbeing
  • Beneficiaries