News


A visit to museum on prescription for lonely


LONELY old people are being pre- scribed a trip to Maidstone Mu- seum to get them out and about and meeting new friends. Museums on Prescription (MoP)


is a three-year research project being carried out by University College London (UCL), funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. It aims to connect lonely older people at risk of social isola- tion with museums in central Lon- don and Kent. The research team has been look-


ing at the role of museums in im- proving health and wellbeing for several years, with a focus on the benefits of touch and object-han- dling, for people in hospitals and healthcare settings. The study fol- lows a similar project, Heritage in Hospitals. The team plans to bring groups


of elderly and housebound people to Maidstone Museum to investi- gate the value of heritage encoun- ters in “social prescribing” – linking people to sources of com- munity support to improve their health andwell-being.


Maidstone museum is taking part in a project looking at how visits to


exhibitions can improve the wellbeing of older people


Similar projects already operate


inAustralia,NewZealand, Canada and the United States. The research teamwants to com-


pare how schemes work in an urban setting – London – and a re- gional setting – Maidstone. They alsowant to look at the value of an MoP scheme in a small museum and a large museum, such as the British Museum. The project is headed by Dr


Helen Chatterjee at UCL’s School of Life and Medical Science, as- sisted by Dr Linda Thomson, cog- nitive psychologist at UCL; Professor Paul Camic, professor of psychology and public health and


research director at Canterbury Christ Church University; Dr Brid- get Lockyer, postdoctoral research fellow at Canterbury Christ Church University; and Dr Theo Stickley, professor of mental health at Not- tingham University. Curators at Maidstone Museum


are looking at a range of sessions that could benefit the elderly, in- cluding painting on parchment, clay oil lamp-making, vase-paint- ing and corsage-making. As well as the main museum,


local and natural history exhibits and tours could also take place in the Carriage Museum in Mill Street.


Experienced Editor required


downsmail.co.uk JOHN


MUNSON SHOW TIME


Fun for cast


and audience Hollingbourne Pantomime MOTHERGOOSE.


THIS pantomime opened with a beautifully-costumed DavidAbsom as Grimaldi telling the story of Mother Goose to children. Costumes by Louise Cooke and


sets by Ron Bathiewere of the usual high quality that marks out this club. The children next appeared as the


dear little goslings, whowere stolen by wicked Squire Penny-Pincher, played brilliantly by Glen Bryan. The castwere experienced and confident and enjoyed what theywere doing. Mother Goose Steve Page looked


good, movedwell and knew how to deal with the audience. June Pockett as the good fairy and Joanne Head as the evil one deserved their fans. Elizabeth Oben, Claudia Parr, Zoe Head and Immy Stroud danced for us and Georgie Whitcombe was a junior Mother Goose. Acapable cast gave great support


to the director and writer, Gary Cooke. David Head wrote some very catchy songs.


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28 Maidstone East March 2016


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