In this week’s edition of the blog we are excited to reveal another slice of our ongoing ‘Reconnect’ project and showcase the fantastic charitable organisation, Home-Start Dundee!
Home-Start plays a vital role supporting parents and giving their children the best possible start in life. Their positive impact makes a real difference to the lives of children and families in communities across the UK. They work alongside parents, in their own homes, to help them cope with the stresses and strains of life and make sure they have the skills, confidence and strength they need to nurture their children.
Before the Corona Virus Pandemic, Home-Start ran regular group sessions at a local venue, where parents and their children could come along and meet other families. Pre-lockdown, the children are given the opportunity to play, learn, have fun and socialise with toys, books and often activities are designed to nourish and encourage their development. Parents also get the chance to meet and talk to other adults and many parents discover they are going through the same kinds of experiences and feel less alone. It was vital that the group continued to remain connected virtually throughout the pandemic. Home-Start currently facilitate these group sessions regularly online to help tackle feelings of isolation and loneliness during these uncertain times.
The Home-Start family group have previously worked with the Creative Learning Team on the 150th Anniversary project ‘The People’s Story’, participating in a series of outreach weaving sessions using a loom to create a year-long community weave featuring the work over 850 participants. We have also worked together to create ‘Bash Street’s Back at the Mc Menace’ inspired lanterns as part of Dundee’s first ever UNESCO City of Design Street parade.
Getting activity bags ready for Home-Start 
Art and craft materials
For this part of the ‘Reconnect’ Project we been liaising with the group on a regular basis since January. We have worked closely with the participants to tailor a selection of resources and materials for them to use at home. Each family will receive a tote bag of art materials, a custom-made ‘Think Big’ book to help them explore our city, keep them connected to the museum collection, and providing space to record their thoughts, feelings and discoveries.
Throughout each online session we share inspirational ideas for the parents and their children to engage in activities together, talk about current exhibitions, history and importantly, mental health and wellbeing. There will also be a physical element to the project through dance. We are working in partnership with local dance company Shaper/Caper to provide the families with a series of online dance sessions for them to do in the comfort of their own homes. Each of these ‘A Day to Play’ dance sessions will be pre-recorded using green screens to incorporate the museums collection, so that busy families can participate at a time that is convenient for them.
After the Easter break we will continue our collaboration with Home-Start with more practical activities to develop knowledge and understanding of the Museum’s Collection, encourage creativity to improve mental and physical health and wellbeing and of course keep connected with one another throughout these challenging times.
Keep up-to-date with ‘Reconnect’ through our online and social media channels as the project progresses!
The project has been made possible thanks to Art Fund support and additional funding from Tayside Healthcare Arts Trust.
McManus Creative Learning 