More than 600 schoolchildren from across North Wales and Cheshire joined care home residents for a sing-song at Llangollen International Eisteddfod.<\/p>\n
The musical dementia workshops on the Maes were organised by the arts loving Pendine Park care organisation who are major sponsors of the iconic festival where Wales meets the world..<\/p>\n
The sessions were led by creative practitioner Emyr Gibson, a popular Welsh TV soap actor and singer, and Pendine\u2019s musician-in-residence, Nia Davies Williams.<\/p>\n
They\u00a0 were supported by Pendine\u2019s consultant artist-in-residence, Sarah Edwards, 16 care staff and 15 residents from the group\u2019s care homes.<\/p>\n
The project was funded via the Pendine Arts and Community Trust which was set up by the organisation\u2019s owners, Mario Kreft MBE and his wife, Gill, to support arts and community activities, including the eisteddfod.<\/p>\n
Sarah Edwards said: \u201cThese dementia music workshops are inter-generational and involve our residents living with dementia in our care homes and lots of different schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are fun, interactive music sessions and our residents really get involved in them, and the children do too.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all about having fun, shaking their maracas and waving their Pendine flags \u2013 just having a good old time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s also a little incentive because there is goodie bags for the children afterwards which always go down well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important because it allows our local community to understand what living with dementia is and, although it is a very challenging condition, that it is not necessarily the end for our residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur care is person-centred and dignified and we want to allow our residents to do the things they enjoy, and one of the things they really love is interacting with children \u2013 these workshops do exactly that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody throws themselves in and the team effort is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the schools taking part in the workshop was The\u00a0Rofft in Marford, near Wrexham.<\/p>\n
Year 5 teacher Gemma Jones said: \u201cThe workshop was lovely, it was so nice to see all the residents enjoying themselves, you can see they are so engaged in the music.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe children really enjoyed joining in and\u00a0having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pupil Ted, 10, said: \u201cThe music workshop was really good, I enjoyed the singing, it was really nice to spend time with older people and shaking the maracas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holly, 10, said: \u201cI thought the music workshop was really good because we were able to learn new songs and learn the dances to them too.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was fun because it was such a good experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meinir Rees, the assistant headteacher at Ysgol Gwernant in Llangollen, said the workshop had been a highlight for the youngsters on their annual trip to the eisteddfod.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cThe whole school is here,\u00a0there\u2019s a 157 of us here, and 57 children took part in the workshop.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was lovely to take part, it was\u00a0fab, we knew some of the songs, the maracas were great fun and the children really enjoyed themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really nice for the school to be part of a project which brought different ages together.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a sentiment echoed by\u00a0 Ysgol y\u00a0Gwernant pupils Olivia, 11, and Florence, 10.<\/p>\n
Olivia said: \u201cThe music workshop was good, it\u2019s nice to spend time with older people and sing together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Florence added: \u201cI thought the workshop was good fun and the eisteddfod is good too, I really like the performances inside the Pavilion.\u201d<\/p>\n
The care home residents who took part in the workshop said they had\u00a0a great time.<\/p>\n
Gwen Davies said: \u201cIt was lovely to see so many children, they are so nice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been joining in with the singing, it\u2019s a nice way to spend a day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beryl Roberts said: \u201cIt\u2019s been lovely to spend time with the children, they\u2019ve been very well behaved and they\u2019ve all joined in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been to the\u00a0eisteddfod many times, it\u2019s very special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Llangollen town crier Austin\u00a0Cheminais dropped by to say hello and raise three cheers for Pendine Park and the work it does in the community.<\/p>\n
The dementia workshop was a huge success, said Emyr Gibson, who juggles his work with Pendine Park alongside his TV and music commitments.<\/p>\n
Emyr gained fame playing Meical for more than 18 years in the hit S4C Welsh language series Rownd a Rownd.<\/p>\n
He is also a familiar face from gritty TV dramas Hidden and Forgotten Journeys.<\/p>\n
Emyr said: \u201cI have performed loads of times at the eisteddfod with choirs and stuff and I always think this is an amazing place and does something the world could learn from.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got every different kind of people, religion, everything in this field, and it\u2019s not that big a field, and everybody is just happy to be together.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe power of music is unbelievable and the dementia workshop sessions have been wonderful.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a privilege to do this, to bring generations together, and also to help people with dementia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just love the role, and holding sessions to help people with dementia, you get so much from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nia Davies Williams added:\u00a0 \u201cMusic and the arts are the golden thread that runs through everything we do at Pendine, including\u00a0 the\u00a0intergenerational work and the links it builds within the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe power of music is undeniable and the workshop is a bit of a showcase of what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a chance for people to see what we\u2019re doing and for us once again to reach out to the community, and what better place to do that than the Llangollen Eisteddfod.\u201d<\/p>\n