The Student Knowledge Exchange Project Festival Returns from 21-28 June
From 21 – 28 June Central is once again partnering with the NHS to present the week-long Student Knowledge Exchange Project Festival, celebrating student and staff learning, insights and achievements from the Student Knowledge Exchange project between Central and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
The Student Knowledge Exchange project is focused on student involvement in delivering better patient experiences in the NHS and is jointly funded by Research England and the Office for Students. The project builds on collaborative work that has taken place between Central teams and the NHS for a number of years. This year, it has also been expanded to related locations such as One Housing Association. Project activity was most recently showcased at the Student Knowledge Exchange Project Festival in March 2021.
During the week-long celebration, Festival events will include interactive workshops, presentations and a celebration of the work undertaken. Each day’s free events are centred around the individual programmes delivered as a part of the project. These include storytelling, filmmaking, performance, intergenerational work, virtual reality, songwriting and podcast creation.
Alongside the events, each day will feature two additional sessions to provide attendees with an opportunity to learn: a public skill-sharing workshop and facilitator training session. There will also be a daily creative showcase in which students will share creative artefacts developed throughout the project and their work with patients and residents and will have an opportunity to premiere these original creations.
Then on the final day of the festival, Monday 28 June, Leanne Twidale and Ellen Wilson from the project’s Social Enterprise Team will deliver a stand-alone session: ‘Dementia Friendly Facilitation Training’. This interactive training session will offer practical advice on delivering dementia-friendly arts projects.
The Festival celebrates projects which have been delivered by students from Central’s BA Contemporary Performance Practice and MA Applied Theatre courses.
The team have been working closely alongside project lead and principal investigator Dr Nicola Abraham, Consultant Nurse of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust’s Dementia Care Team Jo James, Victoria Ruddock, Dementia Specialist Healthcare Support Worker and project co-lead, Specialist Dementia Healthcare Support Worker Lucy Gilby and the Dementia Care Team’s Activities Co-Ordinator Rachel Hudspith.
The student teams have also worked alongside Applied Theatre in Dementia and Social Enterprise Fellows Leanne Twidale, Ellen Wilson, and Emily Morris from the Social Enterprise team who have been project hosts for sessions taking place with One Housing Association and who also curated the week-long festival. As a part of their work, Emily Morris will host the One Housing ‘Your Story, Your Way’ project, Leanne Twidale will host the One Housing ‘Auchi Street’ project, and Ellen Wilson will host the One Housing ‘Life in Lyrics’ project.
The Student Knowledge Exchange Project has been enabled thanks to funding from Research England and the Office for Students, with additional funding for the Wonder VR project generously provided by My Improvement Network.
For more information and to book to attend any of the free sessions, please visit the Festival’s dedicated booking page
