Kite making for Rotherham residents

Let’s go fly a kite! 

Creative Rotherham residents have been busy making kites at Age UK Rotherham’s wellbeing social sessions in Wath and Bevan Crescent. The kites were designed and decorated at the free sessions run by the charity and will be flown at the upcoming Basant Kite Festival at Wentworth House on 24 August. 

Artist Uzma Ran, was funded by Rotherham Open Arts Renaissance to deliver the first session at Wath and Age UK Rotherham’s Wellbeing Coordinator, Yasmeen Ali, provided guidance at the Bevan Crescent meeting. 

The collaboration provided a great opportunity for local residents to get together, be creative and have friendly chats about how they are getting on at the moment.  The wellbeing sessions are positive events where people can share solutions about what their current challenges are and how they are coping, whilst making connections with others in their community. 

The initiative was a wonderful experience, fostering creativity and community spirit among the members and resulting in 25 kites being created for the festival. Art and culture group, Flux, arranged the artist for the kite making session and have donated 14 free tickets for the event. In addition, the members of the Wath group will benefit from free transport to enable them to attend the festival as part of the ongoing Age UK Rotherham wellbeing initiative. 

The Wellbeing Socials are part of Age UK Rotherham’s Ways to Wellbeing in Later Life initiative, which provides support to help people feel less lonely, reduce social isolation, improve physical and mental wellbeing and feel more connected within their communities. 

One group member said “Thank you, for such fabulous events. I have really enjoyed them and the atmosphere you’ve created has been wonderful and helps me make new pals. It really helps with my mental health journey, and I really appreciated everything. Thanks – Karen.” 

These sessions make such a positive difference, and the charity is appealing for donations to continue running them, so that more Rotherham residents can access the groups. 

For more information about the scheme and upcoming sessions contact Yasmeen Ali at yasmeen.ali@ageukrotherham.org or give her a call on 07988638355.