EastBank Seniors, Visible in Newham and other London 2012 boroughs sought an audience with Dr Gus Casely-Hayford, director of the V&A East which will soon be a feature of life in the Olympic Park area

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in South Kensington has always been a favourite of EastBank Seniors’ subscribers and so it was their curiosity which led them to make the journey into the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to question how the V&A East could benefit those getting on in years, who survived the pandemic and are challenged every day by other global matters.

“We should recognise that we are a less-confident society than pre-Covid and we need healing through creativity”, said Dr Gus. “We need to bring communities together”.

He reminded us that the answer for us seniors to benefit from V&A East lays in the innate passion we do have for creativity, its relevance to our lives through making and doing, seeing and touching, and that by recognising these human aspects we can come together both spiritually and physically in a cultural space.

Neighbouring communities have a right to be included in E20’s economic boom. For two years the director had sought opinions and preferences from local people about the incoming V&A East. To attract groups of people who have been marginalised historically, treasures from every continent over 5000 years will be available and seen.

Dr Gus is planning to meet every school student in the four surrounding boroughs to share his team’s work and to consolidate the links to the national curriculum.

At his encounter with EastBank Seniors, he met for the first time a group of seniors adamant that they be included in the realisation of a vision of community and inclusion through art.

To subscribe to EastBank Seniors email gillianamuir@aol.co.uk

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