Arts Derbyshire is supported by a team whose sole aim is to enrich the community through art and creativity. Although you may already have heard about and partaken in Arts Derbyshire projects, we would like to introduce you to the arts team behind Arts Derbyshire and learn about their work in their own words.
In this article, we are introducing Nicky Bellenger, a freelance theatre practitioner and producer. Nicky is the current Project Coordinator for A Necklace of Stars, an outreach programme using the arts to tackle isolation and loneliness in housebound older adults across Derbyshire.
Nicky started working with Arts Derbyshire in 2020, as an artist on the Matinée Outreach project. In this time she delivered creative activities for people living with dementia to try in their own homes, via telephone calls and post, and later also took on the role of Project Coordinator.
Aside from her work with Arts Derbyshire, Nicky is currently delivering a peer support group for people living with dementia and their carers at Derby Theatre. The group was initially established to co-create a new play about dementia for young people. This new play, ‘Everywhere’, will be available for youth theatres and schools to download for free from Derby Theatre’s website from September 2023. Nicky also works with the national charity the Stroke Association, to provide a network of support for peer support groups for stroke survivors. She has been a volunteer Dementia Friends Ambassadors with the Alzheimer’s Society since 2015, delivering information sessions to a wide range of individuals and groups in this time.
Stay tuned for the rest of our Introducing Our Team series to find out more about the team behind Arts Derbyshire and read about each individual’s relationship to the creative sector.
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