Central Team Named Finalists in the Music & Drama Education Awards
Congratulations to Dr Nicola Abraham and the Innovating Knowledge Exchange team who, together with the Dementia Care Team staff from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Whitefield School, are finalists for four awards at the 2022 Music & Drama Education Awards!
The nominations are in recognition of the team’s intergenerational and collaborative work run between Central second year BA Contemporary Performance Practice collaborative outreach students, year 9 and staff from Whitefield School, and NHS staff and patients.
During the Summer of 2021, the Innovating Knowledge Exchange project team partnered with Year 9 students at Whitefield School in Barnet, led by their teacher (and Central graduate) James Clarke to deliver a project which was envisioned by Jo James, Consultant Nurse in Dementia & Delirium at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Together, they delivered a ‘fusion’ project combining work from the existing Intergen and Auchi Street projects. The intention of the project was to facilitate intergenerational connections between young people missing their grandparents as a result of the pandemic, and patients who had been shielding and missing their families who were undergoing dialysis treatment on Auchi Ward at Hammersmith Hospital.
Over the course of 8 weeks, students were partnered with a patient participant who they engaged with both online facilitated by second year collaborative outreach students from Central with the Innovating Knowledge Exchange (IKE) project team supporting patients in person in order to exchange stories and engage in conversations about their heritage, food, family and lives. The stories were then transformed by the year 9s - with the support of Contemporary Performance Practice students from Central and their teacher - into scripts, songs, and music videos – all of which were then made into films which premiered on Auchi Ward.
For patients, the project offered engagement, companionship, enjoyment and cognitively stimulating activities. The students, in turn, learned about the importance of drama and the arts, raised their aspirations and opened their eyes to the possibilities of careers in arts and health. Above all, it improved the wellbeing of everyone involved.
One year 9 student participant from Whitefield School said of the project:
At the start, I didn’t understand what it was all about or see the importance. Now, however, I think very differently. The project opened my eyes. It was something special.
Staff at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust said:
“Delighted that the fantastic work between Whitefield school, and our Innovating Knowledge Exchange project through Central, and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust has been recognised“ - Jo James, Consultant Nurse in Dementia & Delirium IKE project partner, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
“This is so exciting! Congratulations to Nicky and Rachel for all their hard work and enthusiasm. It really lifts the spirits of the patients. I hear giggles and chatter from the bedside when I walk past the live interaction with the school children. Having teenagers myself, I think this is a great cross-generational programme that benefits all parties.” - Maura Appelbe, Auchi Ward Matron, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
The project is a finalist for the Outstanding Drama Initiative Award. Dr Nicola Abraham, Rachel Hudspith and James Clarke have each been shortlisted for the Drama Inspiration Award.
Of the recognition, they said:
“We are very proud of our second year CPP students who supported the project, our patients who volunteered to take part, our brilliant year 9s from Whitefield school and the strength of our partnerships to pull this off in a pandemic! Connection and social interaction albeit over a digital screen need not be a divide - the care, compassion and creativity of all who took part with the determination to find ways of making something truly special together, to me, speaks volumes for the will to make our worlds collaborative, connected and creative. I hugely admire the skill of the year 9s who built such bespoke artefacts and co creatively crafted performances to value the identities of their patients. Huge thanks go to their inspirational teacher, James Clarke, for his incredible work putting this together. Massive thanks also go to the ward staff at Auchi ward in Hammersmith Hospital and their amazing matron Maura Appelbe for having faith in us to make this happen. Thank you must go to Jo James, Consultant Nurse in Dementia and Delirium who proposed the idea of combining two projects in the first place. Thank you to Rachel Hudspith, Activities Coordinator in the dementia care team at imperial for her support and facilitation of the process to ensure it was a success. I’ve learnt a lot from everyone in our partnership and I’m hugely grateful for everyone’s generosity.” - Dr Nicola Abraham, Senior Lecturer in Applied Theatre Practices at Central
“During a difficult year, it has been an absolute pleasure working with the wonderful staff and students at Whitefield School, the incredibly hard working and supportive students at Central, and of course, the creative and inspirational patients on Auchi Ward. Being shortlisted for the Drama Inspiration Award is an honour and I am so very grateful to have been nominated, but I also feel it is an important recognition of the project and should be dedicated to the amazing participants we have worked with. Without the students and patients, we would not have been able to spread joy during this challenging time.” - Rachel Hudspith, Activity Coordinator in the Dementia Care Team at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Central graduate
“And to think, this all started with a picnic in the park and a desire to bring our two worlds of education and medicine together! The students and the patients though are the ones who made this project what it was. It exceeded all our expectations and has made a lasting impact on all the lives it touched. What we experienced and what was created, was something I’d never experienced before. This wasn’t just a “drama project” it was far more then that…” - James Clarke, Teacher at Whitefield School and Central graduate
Winners of 2022 The Music & Drama Education Awards will be announced on 23 March 2022 at a ceremony in London.
Learn more about The Music & Drama Education Awards.
You can also view thank you videos recorded by NHS staff Jo James and Maura Appelbe for the students at Whitefield School.