VASL’s Community Champions project excels at building connections between people and organisations unleashing creativity for mutual benefit.
The final project 2024 learning session about Henry Dawe’s play The Autumn of My Years, and its broadcast on Harborough FM (HfM), came about through a series of Harborough connections.
Henry Dawe, an Uppingham actor, comedian and playwright, had contacted HfM to ask if they would consider broadcasting his play. Owen, host of HfM’s Thursday evening performing arts slot, liaised with Henry to divide the 100-minute play into three parts which were broadcast during November 2023, followed by a studio discussion.
Rohini read about the broadcast of the play in The Harborough Mail and contacted HfM to see if she could connect with Henry as she was interested in exploring the inter-generational friendship at the centre of the play and how it resonated with the experiences of clients in the project.
Clients spent one session listening to the play, and drew out the following themes, which Wendy summarised at the session:
The importance of giving and receiving kindness
How loneliness can affect people of all ages
Making the most of chance encounters
The art of nurturing and growing social connections, and their positive impact on our well-being
The vitality of laughter and sunshine in our lives
How best to share the reflections and wisdom of older people with different generations
What assumptions we make about the motives of older and younger people enjoying an inter-generational friendship
Henry shared the story of the evolution of the play which was based on his friendship with his neighbour, a remarkable lady who had been a codebreaker at Bletchley Park and was 60 years older than him. He described how their friendship grew as both benefitted – Henry learning about modern history through his neighbour’s experiences, whilst she got insights into the life of a young man living in the same town. The group discussed the scarcity of inter-generational friendships, although clients were able to give examples of connecting with younger people and the joy this brought both.
We discussed the inter-generational friendship in the play between Alex and Sandy who discovered common interests in the theatre, art and humour. We debated the motives of Alex, the societal perception of older people, how we can share the wisdom of elders through dialogue, the potential of chance encounters to transform lives, the power of connection and the changing culture of safeguarding.
After the play’s broadcast on HfM other radio stations are also broadcasting it so audiences in Derbyshire, Melton and Rutland are also enjoying the play. Henry emphasizes the importance of respecting and valuing the wisdom of older people.
Everyone was stimulated by the discussions and struck by how well Harborough folk connect with each other. We all look forward to building on our partnership with both HfM and Henry.
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