An Invitation To was a Peterborough Presents commission, made with two groups of residents in Bretton, Peterborough, in the Autumn/Winter of 2019. The residents were from Norburn High and Hanover.
It aimed to get people together, reach some of the residents that don’t come to things, have a good time and to create something to remember the project by.
The project was supported by Producer Katy Hawkins.
At the beginning of the project both groups of residents were consulted on what they’d like from it. Once this had been decided on they were then invited to plant some seeds in tiny pots (forget-me-nots) whilst brainstorming ideas for activities… They also picked the name - An Invitation To…- and helped to design a simple invite on a postcard to post through residents letterboxes each week. Both the invite design and activities were different for each group.
With Hanover residents we:
Decided on ‘A taste from the past’ as the first activity - residents were invited to bring in a dish that reminded them of home for others to try.
Held a wine tasting evening with music from local musician Huqh
Learned how to infuse gin & make homemade hot chocolate from Keely
Bottled up the gin infusions as gifts & tried out the hot chocolate drink
Invited residents to attend a local xmas market with free transport.
& with Norburn High residents we:
Held a cake and jumble sale.
Had a Whist lesson and locally made bread and soup.
Installed some wooden garden steps into the communal garden in order to make the route into the garden more accessible, and then held a ribbon cutting ceremony for them.
Arranged a local theatre trip for with transport, using the proceeds of the Jumble sale - although this was later cancelled due to Covid.
With both residents we regularly reflected over tea and snacks on what had worked about each activity and what hadn’t and also came up with ideas for the next one…
At the end of the project, as a simple way to tie everything together -Hanover residents were gifted a china plate with a design on it by Sheila with some snacks provided by Westraven cafe - as a reminder that the project took place, and as one last invite (see the plate)…
And for Norburn High Residents some silver grey granite stepping stones were put into the communal garden, leading from the wooden steps to the patio area opposite. The steps were engraved as follows:
An invitation to... step into the garden…
'An Invitation To...’ A Peterborough Presents arts project made with residents of Norburn High (2019-2020)
