Upswing’s Homemade Circus project will promote active participation, build social connection, and champion care homes as welcoming spaces for older people.

What we’re funding: Homemade Circus is a 3-year training programme delivered by Upswing in partnership with care home providers. The project promotes active participation, improves mobility, builds social connection and champions care homes as welcoming spaces. Learning will be shared across key agencies involved in creativity and later life, with the eventual delivery of joint sessions to other care homes.

Why we’re funding: While assessing this application, we were struck by the joy, playfulness, and sense of occasion that the project can bring. Upswing have developed an accessible and replicable model that works well within the care home context. The project has been designed with careful consideration of how to work well with care homes, staff buy-in, and what artists need to work effectively in these settings.