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Reminiscence Theatre with Royal Holloway and Age Exchange

Age Exchange (http://www.age-exchange.org.uk/) was founded in 1983 in the context of an emerging awareness of the value of reminiscence work, especially in care settings for older people. For more than 20 years they have developed new models of work offering participants a wide range of reminiscence-based creative activities and arts products.

The mission of Age Exchange is to improve the quality of life for participants in their projects by valuing their reminiscences and providing them with the opportunity for wider appreciation in the form of visual and performance arts projects, intergenerational projects, exhibitions, publications and documentary film.

Age Exchange have also extended their work nationally to many new target-groups, focussing on those at risk of social exclusion, and are recognised nationally and internationally by many providers of services in the statutory and voluntary sectors as being the leading practitioners, consultants and sources of information about reminiscence work.

The Age Exchange/Royal Holloway Reminiscence Theatre project is designed to address significant issues around demonstrable Arts impact on Health, especially within areas of social exclusion such as old age and cultural deprivation.

A reminiscence practitioner will spend one term at Royal Holloway, bringing with them Age Exchange’s expertise in reminiscence work, an international reputation for ethical practice and experience in the setting up of sustainable partnerships. The set up period will involve making connections with local old people’s organisations [eg care homes, day centres, Age Concern]; with individuals and with their carers; concentrating on areas of diversity and of deprivation. Age Exchange will then begin working with Royal Holloway Drama staff and students to teach the principles of Reminiscence Theatre before running projects in the areas above that would culminate in performance events where students perform the young selves of the elderly participants, jointly with the latter if possible.