Jenny Garratt our Social Care Specialist Training Associate and ILM Centre Manager, has been lucky enough to be selected for the Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship under the category; The Arts and Older People. We are immensely proud this opportunity has been awarded to Jenny.
What is the Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship?
The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust awards travelling fellowships to British Citizens to bring back knowledge and best practice for the benefit of others in their UK professions and communities.
A Fellow must travel overseas for between 4-8 weeks and gain a wide range of experience within their chosen category. This year there were 1,182 applications and 137 Fellowships awarded, 9 of which are in the category 'Arts and Older People'.
Background to the Fellowship opportunity
Jenny's first placement under the National Skills Academy for Social Care Graduate Scheme was in a care home. Here she witnessed such breadth in creativity and boundless enthusiasm from the staff for incorporating art into their lives. From a learning and development perspective, understanding how such a positive mentality can be transferred to peers is a fascinating process. Perhaps even more fascinating is how organisations in other cultures facilitate art for older people.
Aims and objectives
From this fantastic experience Jenny hopes to;
- Investigate projects on an international scale, with specific focus on the methods used to train staff and volunteers in organisations.
- Gain insights into the Learning and Development techniques used by other cultures and how they could be implemented in the UK.
- Identify best practice that can be build upon and replicated in our learning and development packages, which would have direct impact upon the staff and volunteers we train, and an even bigger impact on the Service Users.
From a personal perspective, this is an extremely fulfilling opportunity giving Jenny new perspectives on best practice and innovative solutions from a wealth of different cultures. It will give her chance to grow her experiences and inspire her to think creatively about older people and how to improve their quality of life.
"I believe that the effective use of the arts can facilitate a wider mentality shift that I would like to see happen in the Social Care Sector - from a task and process orientation towards innovation and creativity." Jenny Garratt
Jenny leaves for her Travelling Fellowship on the 1st August, returning on 22nd September - I'm sure you'll join us in wishing her the best of luck. Watch this space as Jenny will be blogging regularly on her travels, keeping us updated with her adventure.
