The Care Trail Guide

To find out more about purchasing any of the art pieces in
this exhibition, or hosting a further exhibition by any of
the artists, please contact catherine@significantseams.org.uk
Additionally, please note, we are raising funds to tour
‘CARE,’ - the giant nest. Thank you for considering
donating at: http://bit.ly/CareNestDonation
The Caring Community
Significant Seams and the Craft of Caring
project would like to thank project
participants, for the generous sharing
of their stories and welcoming of our
project team into their worlds. We also
want to thank the artists, exhibition
venues, and a range of organisations and
groups, whose support has helped make
this exhibition a reality, particularly
Unite, Mid-Devon Carers, Devon Carers,
Crediton Arts Centre, Involve, The
Hayridge (Cullompton Library), Libraries
Unlimited, Heathcoat Community Centre,
Sunningmead Community Centre, and
Arts & Health South West. Further,
a number of individuals have been
instrumental in their support - huge
appreciation to Andrea Foxwell, Tim
Salter, Sue Lee, Callum Elliot-Archer,
Nicola Frost, and Christine Duff.
The design for the Craft of Caring
Project was developed in the course
of a pilot in 2017/18 (funded by Devon
Community Foundation). In that phase
Significant Seams interacted with 28
frontline agencies and worked with 7
carers, paid and unpaid. We delivered
5 experimental textile workshops –
primarily attended by staff of specialist
organisations. After five sessions, we
had a facilitated feedback session to
evoke as much learning as possible. This
session led to a (funder-agreed) revised
approach to reaching, supporting, and
engaging carers based on an outreach
and art project model. With financial
support from Arts Council England,
The Community Lottery, and Crediton
Town Council, we expanded on the
approach to deliver across mid Devon,
and undertook substantial outreach
and art workshop activity for carers,
facilitating and instigating conversations
in the community about care and carers’
experiences. We have established links
and conversations with at least twenty
further organisations. We have directly
worked with over 100 carers of mid-
Devon in under six months, with no
referral system - including a growing
number of carers who have opted out
of the existing provisions. We hugely
appreciate the trust and honest inputs of
participants in the project….