Celebrating one year of Tyne Derwent Way in a box

Last weekend we celebrated one year since the creation of Tyne Derwent Way in a Box, a project led by young artists in Gateshead, whose sensory art boxes have been shared with older people across local care homes.

The celebration brought together the young artists, residents from three Gateshead care homes, creatives, and collaborators who helped shape the project.

As well as spending time together and exploring the history of St Mary's Heritage Centre, our beautiful venue, we also got creative and made prints in a workshop designed by JP Kirvan from Orbis.

It was lovely to hear from Creative Heritage Studios and Equal Arts, our partners throughout this work. Corinne from Creative Heritage Studios shared what the creative process looked like for the young, neurodivergent artists as they developed their boxes alongside Gateshead artists. Douglas from Equal Arts spoke about how care homes who've already received boxes have been using them from hosting afternoon teas to creating their own sensory boxes.

We ended by gifting the remaining boxes to the care home residents who were with us on the day. We're excited to see what they do with them.

As the project concludes, it was a joy to bring together the young artists who made the boxes and the residents who will now take them home and use them as inspiration for their own creative sessions. The project first emerged through our 'PicknMix' community decision‑making process, and it has been wonderful to see it come to fruition — celebrating and enabling creativity, collaboration, and community impact.

We do still have two remaining boxes, designed to stimulate the senses and spark creativity around the nature of Gateshead's riversides. Get in touch if you know a community group who would like one. Email [email protected]

Tyne Derwent Way in a box image gallery