Creative Connex are proud to support three of Bristol’s social clubs for elders from the African-Caribbean community. Golden Agers and Evergreens are based in Easton and Malcolm X Elders is based in St Paul’s. We support the groups through organising and funding cultural outings for the groups.
All three groups are supported by Alive Activities, who organise a range of activities including exercise, Tai Chi, singing, drama, arts and crafts, wellbeing support and trips out throughout the year. They were set up to tackle isolation and loneliness among the elders and bring people together to form friendships and have fun.
Speakers are invited in from various health and wellbeing organisations and charities to impart information that the elders might find useful in coping with health conditions, home repairs or energy saving and managing their bills. The groups celebrate the culture of the Caribbean islands with food and music but welcome people of any background who would like to join them as they are inclusive to all who are interested.
Since lockdown and leaving Ujima Radio, Roger – the founder of Creative Connex CIC – has focused on the isolation of the elders and aligned this with his academic work and activities at UWE Bristol where Roger is a part-time lecturer. This is the 4th year Creative Connex have arranged a trip to a major Bristol institution for the elders.
Creative Connex has organised trips for the elders to UWE campus Bower Ashton, to the Arnolfini for an art exhibition and to Watershed cinema for a screening Island in the Sun starring Harry Belefonte. We have been delighted to work with Society of Merchant Venturers through Nisbet Trust, Laura Marshall, Marti Burgess and the team and celebrate the achievements of the Caribbean elders.
July 2024
The Legends Lunch, Society of Merchant Venturers, 2023
We organised the Legends Lunch in partnership with SMV to mark the anniversaries of two important events in modern British history: the arrival of the Empire Windrush in 1948 and the Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963. The lunch was attended by 50 members of Golden Agers, Evergreens and Malcolm X elders groups, alongside His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for the City and County of Bristol, Peaches Golding OBE; the Lord Mayor, Councillor Paul Goggin; and the High Sheriff for the City and County of Bristol, Sharon Foster.
Island in the Sun at Watershed Cinema, 2023
In partnership with My Future My Choice, we invited Caribbean elders groups on a trip to Watershed cinema for a screening of Island in the Sun. The film, controversial at the time of its release in 1957, is about race, self-rule and determination, colonialism and interracial marriage set on a fictional Caribbean island with a fantastic cast including James Mason, Harry Belafonte, Joan Fontaine, Joan Collins and Dorothy Dandridge.
We provided lunch and transport for the elders to make the day possible. As an intergenerational event, we also presented a 30-minute showcase of UWE Bristol student films and projects relating to the Windrush experience.
We screened the film to commemorate the abolition of the 1962 Commonwealth & Immigration Act that prevented access for Commonwealth citizens that would lead to the Windrush Scandal.
Frank Bowling at the Arnolfini, 2022
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