The village of Lynemouth have created some beautiful artwork to brighten up the lives of older people in their community.
The Park View sheltered housing scheme in Lynemouth is now 30 years old, and landlord Isos wanted to strengthen links between the residents at the 37 unit complex
and the local community.
Isos localism officer Lewis Rimington worked with the children from the William Leech Campus of local school Northumberland Church of England Academy to produce some artwork for display in Park View.
He said: “We left it to the children to come up with ideas, with the mining heritage of Lynemouth coming to the fore in their drawings – including a colliery wheel, pit ponies and other iconic symbols of the village’s industrial history.
“The artwork seems very appropriate, representing a period which many of the Park View residents remember very fondly.”
All the children’s work was entered in a competition which was judged by one of the residents Fred Middlemiss, aged 90, who is an accomplished artist himself, and Kelly Taylor, assistant director for Customers & Communities at Isos Housing.
Many of Fred’s paintings already hang on the walls of Park View.
The eventual winners of the competition were Evie Whitfield, 8, and Maddie Johnson, aged 9. They each won art materials and some chocolates.
The school children, their parents, local councillors and Park View residents all attended a celebration event to enjoy a viewing of the artwork and share a buffet meal, along with a cup of tea, coffee, or squash.
Kelly said: “We were very impressed with the quality of the children’s artwork. Fred and I had a difficult task picking the winners, but in the end we felt Evie and Maddie’s pictures deserved to win.
“Park View is such a lovely little community, and we hope strengthening links with the village will help everyone appreciate what an asset they have for the older generation both here and in the wider area.”
Jess Williamson, Associate Head of William Leech Campus, said: “”The children thoroughly enjoyed this project. They enjoyed researching the mining heritage of Lynemouth and producing the artwork. I am extremely proud of them all!
“On behalf of the children and staff, we would like to say thank you to Isos for presenting the children with amazing prizes. To Fred for judging the competition and to the residents of Park View for putting on a delicious buffet for us.”