The backstory Since 2016, Local Learning have been working in partnership with Southmead Development Trust, Bristol Old Vic and the local community to create the Southmead soap opera, Meadows to Meaders, telling the true stories of people who have lived, worked and grown up on one of Bristol’s largest interwar council estates. The intergenerational show starring local residents spanning eight decades was initially intended as a one off project, but after six months of intensive rehearsals culminating in a day of fully booked performances live on the streets of Southmead, we were all left feeling a little bereft. Anyone who has ever enjoyed the intimacy and camaraderie that comes with being together in a play will know that there is only one solution … Southmead is full of stories and histories, some of which were woven into our first episode, but we always knew there were more. Building on the wonderful characters and script created by Bea Roberts for the original M2M, community participants are now co-writing our fifth episode, still featuring the two fictional families headed up by matriarchs, Rose Meadows and Iris Meaders and a few newcomers as they grow up together on the estate. The cast regularly come together and share stories of their own or explore ones we have collected from local residents. As everyone is talking and laughing over old times, a narrative emerges and our script starts to take shape. Our cast has continued to grow and each episode has reached further into the community, to the people best placed to tell stories about Southmead’s history, gathering stories from a time when it cost half a crown to see the doctor, a time when many recall being encouraged to fail the 11+ because a grammar school uniform and travel were too expensive. We have recalled the bitter winter of 1947 when Henleaze Lake was frozen so thick people could skate on it and the great friendships that were forged as some Southmead families opened their homes to German children whose parents were struggling to rebuild their lives after the war. We have continued to celebrate the sense of community and goodwill that has always been present and whilst we are currently writing Meadows to Meaders 5, Fab Living on the Mead welcome the people of Southmead in helping us to shape this latest episode. Bespoke M2M boxes The aims of Wise Connections and the concepts that we had been exploring together as a team to help bring communities closer together and better connected were relevant and applicable to the development of M2M. And so before Christmas, a series of bespoke boxes were distributed across Southmead to support the creation of the 5th episode of Meadows to Meaders asking for people to share their memories around our existing themes of prefabs, Saturday morning kids’ cinema and outdoor play alongside an invitation to suggest new ideas for our soap opera. We provided a variety of questions to ensure that all potential participants could engage with the activity whatever their connection with Southmead and regardless of how long they have lived in the area. Continuing with our philosophy of inclusivity and accessibility we wanted to make sure that anyone could be involved whether they were born in Southmead, or came as young adults with the Windrush generation or recently arrived later in life. Accessibility is a high priority for Meadows to Meaders, even more so since the Pandemic and ensuring that all participants can continue to contribute and play an equal role in shaping how we share our stories, contribute to people’s connectedness and reduced sense of isolation. Many of our cast are retired and very few had any previous experience of theatre. There were those who had watched the original performance from the side lines, less confident this first time round, but who then wanted to be a part of this very positive shared experience. Since that first performance, Meadows to Meaders has become more established within the community and the soap opera is not seen so much as an isolated final outcome, but the culmination of a very enjoyable and engaging process. This process is as significant as the final performance, and the ever growing cast have taken on a more active role from the outset, shaping it at every stage and together striving to always be more ambitious and adventurous. As one cast member noted during Lockdown when we managed to move the entire cast from age 13 to 85 to Zoom, “It’s only when we’re all together that everyone can be supportive.” The most important outcome is that we have managed to remain connected and nobody has been left out on their own. Social prescribing and thinking outside the box The National Academy for Social Prescribing identify three factors to qualify as social prescribing:
Neighbours Connect Southmead Neighbours Connect Southmead has been working alongside Adult Social Care to help reduce the demand on the care system. With 40% of all older people saying that television is their main source of company, we need to start doing things differently. We think that a strong community is one that is connected to each other, where neighbours look out for each other and where people feel part of things. Neighbours Connect Southmead encourages this through the careful and considered pairing of volunteers with members of our community. There are currently 20 volunteers matched up with 20 local residents through NCS. Using the bespoke M2M boxes we hope to encourage NCS volunteers to begin with initial conversations to help collect stories for M2M around the identified themes, helping to engage their counterparts in this Southmead focused activity and providing a platform for all voices to be heard. We do not expect everyone to become involved from the outset, but this tailored one to one approach allows for more isolated people to become involved, contribute to and be a part of a wider group activity, recognize that their stories are valued and will be heard as they help to shape the narrative. Storycollecting is a vehicle that can be adapted and elaborated on as the project progresses and we envisage an opportunity to identify new themes and potentially take the script in a new direction. NCS can be involved in addressing bigger questions around the play – how to present, how to address contentious issues, how to reach more people and engage them in the process. The boxes can be circulated between volunteers and local residents before returning to the cast to allow new themes to germinate and a cross-pollination of ideas. Beyond the box A longer term aspiration is to provide the opportunity for NCS members to be more actively involved in M2M. We have a new cast member who grew up in the National Children’s Home in the 1950s but no longer lives in Bristol. She has been able to participate via Zoom and perhaps NCS members might also be interested in blended meetings as a first step with some members of the cast – with the box acting as an introduction and building on this until perhaps people can meet face to face, allowing for different levels of participation and ensuring it is accessible to all. It would be good to assess the extent to which this alternative approach has been useful for overcoming barriers, helping with motivation and engagement and promoting creativity. Building on their expertise and experience, we would like to bring NCS volunteers and local residents together with others to a co-design workshop to share learning, considering what worked well, was enjoyable, could be improved, adapted, is transferable beyond M2M and how other social prescribers could help shape the concept and use the box in other contexts. References and Links:
Blog post by Ruth Myers, Local Learning.
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