Sarah is wearing a yellow cagoule and guiding a smiling lady towards a photograph. In the photograph, the same lady wears a gold top hat and smiles.

The Golden Years Caravan

A roving cinema and art gallery celebrating the curiosity, creativity and culture of Greater Manchester’s older generation

Curiosity, creativity & culture

Retirement: the golden time in life. A chance to travel the world, legitimately use the phrase, ‘not in my day’, whilst rolling around in your massive retirement fund with a grey-blue rinse.

As an ageing population spending almost a third of our lives in our ‘golden years’, how do we disrupt and push back against the stereotypes of cruises and compression stockings?

Tired of the media’s portrayal of grumpy Grandad’s, passive pensioners and senile seniors, Art with Heart set about challenging the ageing conversation by creating a space to share the voices and talents of older people in their local community.

Grab a brew inside The Golden Years Caravan, a roving cinema and art gallery featuring a series of ambitious artworks which confront common perceptions of ageing and retirement.

The Golden Years Caravan was a celebration of the curiosity, creativity and culture of Greater Manchester’s ‘golden generation’, sharing stories of what it was really like to grow older in Greater Manchester in 2019.

The caravan toured across all ten regions of Greater Manchester, popping up at shopping centres, libraries, retirement homes, community centres and even in a nature reserve!

Audiences at the caravan could enjoy a variety of creative activities. They could; watch short film This is Our Time inside our caravan mini cinema, take a tour of photographic exhibition Old Stock, New Stock,get crafty in activity alcove or connect with a stranger at Conversation Corner. Find out more about our activities below.

An outdoor display of colourful portrait photography.

Gallery

Take a tour of our pop up gallery featuring Old Stock, New Stock; a photographic exhibition which combats the stereotypical imagery of older people and retirement in stock photography. The exhibition was a collaboration between Art with Heart, photographer Joe Smith, facilitator Jenny Harris and women from the Apna Ghar Day Centre in Rochdale, a social group for elder Pakistani, Kashmiri and Bangladeshi women.

Click here to watch the Old Stock New Stock behind the scenes video

Six adults sit smiling inside a caravan that has red decor, like a cinema. They sit facing each other, in two rows of three. Behind them, a screen is lit up on the back wall.

Mini Cinema

Take a seat inside our art deco themed caravan and watch This Is Our Time, a short film made by Thirty Pound Gentleman and neighbours from Manchester Cares.

Click to watch This Is Our Time

An older person sits at a table laughing. On the table are art materials and a sign that reads Bucket List.

Activity Alcove

Grab a brew inside Activity Alcove where you can join in a host of fun activities. Take a pick from the ‘Lucky Dip’, create your own ‘Bucket List Bingo’ or send a ‘Postcard From Retirement’.

An adult and a child sit on a wooden bench. The adult holds a stack of notecards in their hands and smiles at the child. Above their heads is a sign that reads Conversation Corner.

Conversation Corner

When was the last time you nattered to a neighbour or struck up a conversation with a stranger on the bus? As we plug in and switch off, the art of conversation is in danger of dying out. Take a seat and pick up a conversation pack, guaranteed to kick start a conversation with somebody new or help you to delve a little deeper with your nearest and dearest.

Three people stand in the sunshine looking at a display board of photography. Behind them, a sign post for Golden Years Caravan points the way to areas including Activity Alcove and Gallery.

A colourful, hand-drawn picture of an island surrounded by sea, mountains and a sunrise.

Rachel sits on a bench chatting to an older person sitting next to them. A sign above their heads reads Conversation Corner.

A yellow signpost reads Golden Years Caravan at the top, with an arrow underneath pointing the way to activity alcove.

A wooden board displays rows of postcards, attached to string by tiny clothes pegs. The postcards have images of nature scenes on the front.

Sarah is wearing a yellow cagoule and standing beside a colourful photograhic portrait of an older person. Another person is looking at the portrait and Sarah is smiling at them.

On a sunlit patch of grass, there is a yellow marquee with nine people gathered underneath it. Outside, there are boards displaying brightly coloured photography and a wooden signpost with arrows pointing in different directions.

Two women wearing headscarves stand under a marquee. A group is gathered in front of them, and one of the standing women talks to them. In the background there is a caravan.

Elders having a chat at Golden Years Caravan Conversation Corner

Two participants engage with Golden Years Caravan

The Golden Years caravan exhibition, displaying portraits, conversation corner, the caravan for films and an activity tent

A visitor to Golden Years Caravan smiling in front of the exhibition

A photo of a participant and facilitator in a workshop, smiling at each other

“The Golden Years Caravan extends a warm welcome wherever it parks…the project deserves to continue and be experienced by a wider audience.”

Lorraine Worsley-Carter - Quays Life

“The film, produced by Thirty Pound Gentleman and executive produced by Art with Heart is comical, uplifting, poignant and thought provoking.”

Lorraine Worsley-Carter - Quays Life

“I’m really excited, this project has brought me back to life.”

Participant

“Guaranteed to make you rethink your ideas of retirement and old age. It’s something to enjoy and embrace, not dread.”

Audience Member

A Social Glue

We were invited to write a case study about The Golden Years Caravan for The Manchester Institute for Arts, Health & Social Change A Social Glue report.

Commissioned by the Great Place project in Greater Manchester Combined Authority and authored by Dr Clive Parkinson, A Social Glue sets out how culture and creativity contribute to the health and wellbeing of the people of Greater Manchester and how the time has never been better to champion and expand this agenda.

Click here to read our case study on pages 10 & 11 of the report

Creative credits

The Golden Years Caravan: Conceived and Curated by Art with Heart

This is Our Time: Short film by Thirty Pound Gentleman and neighbours from Manchester Cares.

Produced by Thirty Pound Gentleman

Production Assistant: Roxanna Sultan

Director / Camera / Editor: Rosie Eliza

Music composed by Zed Bias

Narrative written by Danny ‘Falz’ Fahey

Old Stock, New Stock: Photography Exhibition by Joe Smith and facilitator Jenny Harris and women from Ambition for Ageing in Rochdale

Design: Irene Jade and knitters from Smiths Knits and Chandos Sports and Social Club in Salford

Funders & partners

The Golden Years Caravan has been made possible by the generous support of The Lowry, Bolton Arts Forum, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Great Place GM; a  national Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England initiative.

With special thanks to Lancashire Wildlife Trust, Black Country Touring, Walk the Plank, Lauren Banks, Aquarius Community Centre, Bolton Octagon and Z-Arts.