MUSIC made by care home residents to keep spirits up during lockdown has been shown at the launch of a national intergenerational campaign.

Residents at Colten Care homes across the south have been participating in a host of online activities featuring music, songs, art and poetry to spread some joy and offer them a chance to show off their creativity.

Performances have been put together in a video which was shown at the launch of Together with Music, a national campaign to build virtual connections between care homes and their communities during lockdown to combat feelings of isolation, depression and disconnection.

Violinist Sylvia Stokes, who lives at Whitecliff House in Blandford, Dorset, saw her solo version of Amazing Grace highlighted in the video, alongside a rendition of the Simon and Garfunkel hit Cecilia, performed by residents at Colten's Kingfisher home in New Milton, Hampshire.

Other Colten homes, including Newstone House in Sturminster Newton, Avon Cliff in Bournemouth and Linden House in Lymington participated in the campaign launch video, which also included a performance by some residents who learned sign language and signed the Vera Lynn song We'll Meet Again.

In a second initiative, three Colten Care homes have been involved in a six-week project with the University of Winchester, focusing on creative collaboration across the generations.

Via Zoom, residents were invited to offer creative responses to prompts about subjects including gardens, nature, fairy tales and literature.

The residents' ideas, presented in poetry, song, drawings and paintings were then shared with Winchester school children who added their own artistic interpretations through activities such as drawing and model-making.

Fiona Pritchard, Colten Care music and arts partner, said: "The result was a remarkable exchange of ideas, conversations, reminiscence and creative pieces.

"Our residents readily engaged with the children they met on Zoom. Everyone experienced feelings of inclusiveness and socialisation by coming together online in the midst of lockdown."

In a note of thanks to the University of Winchester project leads, residents at Woodpeckers in Brockenhurst Amelia Pearce and Rosie Olivers, wrote: "We have really enjoyed your company over the past few weeks and hope we can see you again one day."