What we do
Rowan is a vibrant, independent registered charity providing an arts centre and forest school for more than 80 adults with learning disabilities living in Cambridgeshire and the adjoining counties. Since 1984 we have provided a safe, creative, and enriching environment where the arts are used as a tool to bring people together and tackle social exclusion. We develop the skills and potential of our students whilst improving their happiness, health and wellbeing. We also deliver much needed respite to families and carers. Rowan provides a range of creative workshops in woodwork, ceramics, textiles, print, mixed media, drama and music. We are open Monday to Friday, 9am–3pm, 50 weeks a year. We arrange regular trips out to theatres, museums and exhibitions to explore art and culture further, and in 2020 we launched Rowan Rangers, our new forest school which enables our students to be creative and connect with nature.
COVID-19 reponseIn response to COVID-19 we had to stop our normal workshops, but were determined to stay connected with our students, their families, our volunteers and our community. We quickly adapted our services and now run a wide range of creative workshops, Makaton sessions and socials online via Zoom. In addition to this, we provide creative activity packs for our students to do at home and offer some one-to-one and small group sessions in person, in line with current COVID-19 Guidance. We continue to follow current COVID-19 guidance and are aware that many of our students may be unable to return to Rowan in the near future; we will continue to provide music, drama and craft workshops on Zoom, provide activity packs to do at home and stay connected via welfare calls alongside our normal activities.
We have been called ‘a lifeline’, with students telling us: ‘I love Rowan’, ‘Rowan makes me happy’ and ‘I love seeing my friends on Zoom with Rowan’.
