Armchair Adventures | News

We’re helping older tenants feel less isolated and lonely during lockdown, through a new music and arts project called Armchair Adventures.

We’ve teamed up with Made by Mortals, a community interest company that’s made a series of interactive podcasts with activity packs and online sessions. Armchair Adventures combines written and audio guides to take listeners on an adventure of their imagination. Each episode is inspired by people’s experiences, knowledge and passions. And the activity packs include drama, movement and song making activities, which are supported by professional recorded music.

The first episode was recently released. Two more will come out before Christmas. A further three episodes will follow in the New Year.

Gaynor Cox is a Bolton at Home Housing Arts Officer. Gaynor said: “We’re giving out 150 Armchair Adventure packs to some of our older tenants, through GM Ambition for Ageing Culture Champions (Bolton) and Arts Council England funding. The packs include interactive activities as well as the audio podcast. We hope these activities will benefit our customers, by bringing some joy over the winter months, helping to improve mental health and reduce social isolation.”

Andy Smith, Director at Made by Mortals, explained, “There are many people suffering from isolation and loneliness from the restrictions around COVID-19. As we head into winter, we’re aware that loneliness and social isolation will only be a growing problem. We created Armchair Adventures with the Hearts and Minds theatre company we support and work with. It’s been co-designed so that the activities are accessible to everyone and we’re limited only by our imaginations.”

The podcast is available for anyone to listen to and further digital activity packs are available on a ‘pay-as-you-feel’ basis from the Made by Mortals website here: www.madebymortals.org/armchair-adventures.