The Arts, Health & Ageism Round Table was an open invitation to charities, practitioners and organisations working in, or connected to the arts, health and ageism sectors to discuss the impact that ageism plays in arts and health.

Facilitated by Moving Memory, the Round Table took place on the morning of Friday 21 April 2023 on Zoom with 73 individuals signed up to take part, 5 panel member presentations and small break-out sessions led by members of the Moving Memory team.

The discussion was chaired by Professor Roy Sandbach, Professor of Population Health at Newcastle University. Panel members were Sian Stevenson, Creative Director of Moving Memory Dance Company; Veronica Franklin Gould, President of Arts4Dementia; Arti Prashar, freelance Theatre-maker, Consultant and former Artistic Director/CEO of Spare Tyre Theatre Company and Claire Shelton, Director of Well-being at Social Enterprise Kent.

The Round Table asked us to consider :

• What ageism is and how it impacts the arts and health sectors
• The levels of awareness of ageism within the sector
• The resources needed by the sector to raise awareness of ageism and work to prevent it
• National campaigns and examples of best practice

So that, moving forward, we could :

• Become more aware of what ageism is and how to spot it on a daily basis
• Feel empowered to lobby for change
• Learn how to tap into national campaigns that will support your own work
• Connect with other professionals to share resources, skill sets and expertise

An archive recording of the sessions can be found here : Panel Presentations (Part 1) and feedback from Break-out Sessions (part 2) : https://vimeo.com/showcase/10385346

“Thank you Moving Memory – what an incredible group of people gathered around this hot topic and such a rich conversation!”

If you are interested in getting involved in future discussions and events, please email info@movingmemorydance.com

Panel Member Biographies

ROUND TABLE CHAIR
Professor Roy Sandbach OBE FRSC

Professor of Population Health at Newcastle University, Roy is heavily involved in policy and practice relating to healthy ageing. He chairs the Dunhill Medical funded national inquiry into the use of Technology for our Ageing Population. Until September 2018, Roy was Director of the National Innovation Centre for Ageing at Newcastle University and is currently a Professor of Practice in Population Health. He is vice-Chair of Sunderland Ageing Well Board and a board member for Sunderland Culture, which runs four cultural venues in the city.

Sian Stevenson

Sian has extensive experience in applied theatre, with specialist knowledge in movement, inclusivity and disability, and a long track-record of creating new performance in a wide range of educational and community settings.  Sian is the Creative Director of Moving Memory Dance Theatre Company and an Emeritus Reader in Theatre Studies at the University of Kent.

Veronica Franklin Gould

Veronica is President of Arts 4 Dementia, the charity she founded in 2011 to develop weekly learning and participation programmes at cultural venues, to re-energise and inspire people above the strains of early-stage dementia. She helped design a website to signpost arts opportunities for dementia in the community nationwide and worked with Dementia UK to devise training and insight for arts facilitators, and with a range of universities to provide best-practice conferences and reports. Her inaugural programme, Reawakening the Mind (2012-13), won the London 2012 Inspire Mark and Positive Breakthrough in Mental Health Dementia Award 2013.

Arti Prashar OBE

Arti stepped down as Spare Tyre’s Artistic Director/CEO in August 2019 after inspirational and acclaimed leadership for 19 years. Her inclusive creative practice champions diverse voices. She is at the forefront of immersive sensory theatre practice for learning disabled people and people living with dementia. She has a strong commitment to collaborative theatre with values based on fundamental human rights. She is currently lead artist on The Chatter Project with Chichester Festival Theatre, co-producing an audio piece with older people with and without memory loss.

Claire Shelton 
Claire is a committed Voluntary, Community & Social Enterprise professional with extensive strategic experience in project management and performance improvement in both the community and public sector. She is passionate about supporting grassroot groups to grow and thrive, developing responses to the issues that they face. Claire has led on the development of a Men’s Shed in East Kent as well as working nationally for the UK Men’s Sheds Association, developing their ambassador programme. She currently leads a number of multi partner programmes across East Kent focusing on community health and wellbeing for older people.