A project to create eye-catching works of art depicting a welcoming cup of tea has bridged the generations in Denbighshire.

The project was launched with pupils from Ysgol Pen Barras in Ruthin and residents at the town’s Llys Awelon extra care housing scheme joining forces to make two colourful quilts celebrating the traditional Welsh paned or cuppa.

The youngsters were the guests of honour  at a special tea party at Llys Awelon where the quilts will be enjoyed by residents, visitors and staff.

The Grŵp Cynefin owned housing scheme is in the second phase of a £12.2 million redevelopment.

Local company Read Construction are redeveloping the site together with Grŵp Cynefin and partners Denbighshire County Council and Welsh Government.

The community art project was part of the social value aspect of the contract and was led by Bethan M Hughes, the artist-in-residence at the nearby Ruthin Craft Centre.

Working together, the 49 pupils and 22 residents planned, designed and stitched outlines of cups and mugs on material which were then used to make the large quilts.

Bethan said: “We’ve been working on the project since last October and the children have been coming to Llys Awelon about once a month for different sessions with the tenants.

“It was absolutely lovely to see the friendships form between the children and the older people.

“All the embroidery stitching of the cups were done by the children and the tenants, and then I put it all together as a quilt.

“I put the word paned, meaning ‘cuppa’, into the name of the project, the idea being that whenever we welcome anybody into our home, what is the first thing we do? We offer them a cup of tea.

“It is almost a ritual welcome we give to visitors, and as this new building is providing new homes for people, I thought paned would be a lovely theme.

“The children designed and cut their cups and did the stitching for their own little squares. I was expecting them to just do the outline but some of them started embellishing their design and putting their name – and these are children who have never stitched, the vast majority had never held a needle.

“The best part for me was seeing the relationships between the children and the tenants, it was magical.”

Grŵp Cynefin’s Head of Development, Arwyn Evans, said the project was the ideal way to mark the success of the redevelopment.

He said: “The arts project fits perfectly with our ethos of working with the community and bringing in different community local groups in the town to work with us in partnership.

“The ‘paned’ artwork is an inspiration to everybody who took part in creating it.

“This redevelopment is giving new housing opportunities to local people and providing independent living to people who may have struggled to live at home.”

According to the pupils from Ysgol Pen Barras, they enjoyed the whole artistic process.

Nine-year-old Deio said: “I enjoyed the stitching the most, it was the first time I ever tried it. The best part about it was seeing the finished artwork.”

Cai, nine, said: “It was something different from our usual school day and I enjoyed spending time with the residents as part of the project, it was the highlight of the week.”

Nine-year-old Catrin added: “I enjoyed getting to know the people at Llys Awelon and getting to chat about the things they enjoy doing.”

Residents who took part in the project were equally enthusiastic about the project and Gwylan Edwards said: “Having the generations mix and work together is such a good thing, spending time with the children was the best part about it.”

Ceris Edwards said: “It was a lovely experience – the children were adorable.

“We encouraged the children, and they chatted to us about everything, they were very good.”

It was a sentiment echoed by Cyril Williams who said: “Getting the children involved and getting the residents involved in regular meetings was such a lovely thing.

“It was an excellent project – having a cup of tea and giving a warm welcome is such as traditional Welsh feature. The children were delightful, they were so engrossed in what they were doing and would even tell me when my stitches were too big, it was wonderful.

“It was something which enriched our lives, and I think it enriched the children’s lives as well.”

Resident John Astles had very special reason to enjoy the art project – because his nine-year-old great grandson, Ted, also took part.

John said: “The project has been brilliant, absolutely brilliant. The finished artwork is absolutely fantastic it’s a credit to all the children.”

Karen Heaton-Morris, a Director at Read Construction, attended the unveiling and said the firm was delighted to contribute to the project.

She said: “We wanted something to remember the construction and commemorate it, and also involve the community, and the artwork does just that.

“It is lovely to see the art project celebrating Ruthin and the wider community.

“Projects which bring the generations together are something which we do like to support.

“The building project has been a success, it has been so good to work within this community, and work with the client, they’ve been fantastic.

“And it has been lovely to build connections with the residents.”