Young at ‘Art programme in Vauxhall has been granted funding for the third year: No need to feel lonely if you have disability

An art project tackling loneliness has been awarded National Lottery Funding to take it into its third year.

Cool it Art’s Young at ‘Art programme has been granted funding from Awards for All – one of the National Lottery funds for communities, to run another year’s programme from August 2019.

Young at Art is a programme of free weekly art classes for adults. Set up in response to charity Age UK’s statistic that more than one million older people hadn’t spoken to anyone for a month.

Initially it was set up with older members of the community in mind, now include all adults.

The programme was set up with Vauxhall Gardens Estate Residents’ and Tenants’ Association and is held at The Carmelita Centre in Vauxhall walk.

Director of Cool it Art, Amanda Callis said: “We also work with Lambeth Walk Day Centre to involve their users and carers.

“London can be a very lonely place and if you have a disability it can feel even lonelier.

“A lot of people feel isolated and getting the opportunity to go out and do new things and meet new people can only be of benefit to the individual in an environment where they don’t feel out of place or stared at.

“We have produced two annual exhibitions to showcase the works created by the group which have been received really well by the community, funders and supporters alike.

“We are also very fortunate to be supported by GreatArt who match fund our art materials on this project and all our other ones too.

“Since the classes began, we have benefitted more than 60 individuals in the community with plans to extend the reach of the programme even further.

To get involved in the programme you can find out more information at coolitart.com.