‘Working-Class Creativity, Ageing & Belonging in the Arts' - Resources

Delivered in partnership with Emily Bird and the Flourishing Lives Advisory Group (FLAG), the workshop explored how class is signalled and experienced within arts spaces, how lifelong structural exclusion shapes participation in later life, and why working-class creativity has often existed outside institutional definitions of “art”.

Here are the resources that were shared during the session, with kind permission from Emily Bird: 

• ‘Working-Class Creativity, Ageing & Belonging in the Arts’ – presentation slides.
• ‘Working-Class Creativity, Ageing & Belonging in the Arts’ – Additional Material & Resources.

Huge thanks again to Emily Bird for sharing her knowledge and expertise, and for all of her invaluable help in designing and delivering the workshop. We are also very grateful to the members of our Flourishing Lives Advisory Group (FLAG) for all of their help in bringing the session together.

About Emily Bird:
Emily Bird is a facilitator, trainer and programme manager with over a decade of experience designing community projects across the arts, health and social care sectors.

She is an accredited Reminiscence Arts Facilitator with the European Reminiscence Network, co-facilitating Remembering Yesterday, Caring Today — a project for people living with a dementia and their families. Emily currently leads LinkAge Plus an initiative reducing social isolation for people aged 50+ in East London.

Previously, Emily led Magic Me’s Care Homes Programme, supporting over 200 care professionals across the UK to embed everyday creativity in care settings and leading on the co-production of resources – DARE TO IMAGINE: a care home’s guide to creativity and Spark. She has also contributed to sector-wide resources such as Lingo of Connection, connecting with people living in the later stages of a dementia who may be non-verbal.