Elevate

creative activities for patients

 Coordinated by Rebecca Seymour, the Elevate programme is funded by the Stars Appeal and provides regular creative activities for patients on wards. A team of artists and volunteers work on ten different wards, three days a week engaging and interacting with patients using music, poetry, words, movement and song. The activities help to distract patients from the routine of the hospital day and lift their spirits.

As well as the weekly creative activities, Elevate runs monthly vintage tea parties on Redlynch, Pitton and Spire Wards. With a 1950s theme, tea and cakes are served on vintage china from a decorated trolley by a glamorous hostess, accompanied by live music for everyone to sing along to. The tea parties lift the energy on the wards and create a lighter, more relaxed atmosphere for patients, encouraging them to eat more at this social occasion.

Patient

"I came in today for my first chemotherapy treatment. I was really nervous and didn’t sleep at all well last night. The nurses have been brilliant and it is all going so much better than I expected. Then I heard the music. It was Fur Elise, which I remembered was playing when my husband proposed to me. Then she played a piece of Scarlatti, which I played for my 5th grade exam. It was so lovely and made me feel happy and so much more relaxed. I loved it. I am going to ask that when I come in again for my treatments which will last over 6 months, that they include a Tuesday."

Elevate artist

"The tea party transports people from the hospital environment to a happier place full of smiles, cupcakes and music - what magic!"

Patient

"This has taken me right back to the days in the war when the ladies used to come round and bring us tea"

Patient

"I can’t believe I’m worth all this fuss! That singing was good… now I’ll eat me cake!"

Husband of patient

"It has really lifted my wife’s spirits…and mine too actually"

Other Elevate activities

the wider programme

Funding and donations from various additional sources, enables Elevate to extend its programme with visits from theatre companies, outreach activities and community initiatives. Outreach activities currently being delivered include regular Elevate sessions at Wimborne Hospital and the Yeatman Hospital, Sherborne, as well as for the Headway charity. Recent participatory shows brought to the hospital include 2Faced Dance’s performance and Tall Tree Theatre’s two interactive pieces. You can read more about these additional activities and others by following the links below. If you are thinking of programming something for your own setting, you can also download our leaflet of performances suitable for hospitals and other healthcare settings.