Lisa and Rebecca came up with the idea to make a show about real life experiences of elder abuse. Rebecca asked Lisa a few questions about why she wanted to involve other people ?

Lisa: After it happened to us, I quickly found out that what my family had experienced was not isolated. When you and I spoke together, we soon identified some shared concerns. So frequently, when talking about my experience, I receive responses of similar stories of what happened to their aunt, neighbour or friend. I have been discovering that elder financial abuse is all too common. I’ve checked and Age UK estimated in 2020 that 1 in 30 people aged 60 to 74, and around 1 in 50 people aged over 75 experience abuse. £13 million was reported as stolen, defrauded, or co-erced from older victims, and I’m sure the figure is much higher for the cases not reported.  It is disconcerting to know that we live in a society where elder abuse is so prevalent and this has motivated me to discuss my story  and shine a spotlight on how widespread the problem is.

Lisa: I am hoping that the workshops will provide a safe and welcoming space for people who are at the start or about to start their caring experience. I want to off them a space to understand their own feelings, share experiences or concerns that they might have. 
The workshops will provide space for conversation to take place, and the creative activity will support people to tell their story and express their concerns. There's also the possibilty to speak in confidence about the specific experience we're exploring in the show (in this workshop context or in a follow-up phone call). 

Lisa: Not at all, we welcome people with no arts or workshop experience.  It will be up to each person attending how creative they want to be, and it’s also ok to come to listen and hear more.

Also, we welcome people who may already have caring responsibilities and who would find it easier to bring their loved ones living with Dementia. We will have a parallel arts activity accessible for all levels of creative capacity including sensory work, taking place alongside.

Lisa: We will work in small groups and there is no expectation of sharing anything you don’t want to. We appreciate that people will be coming with their own individual experiences and challenges and may just want to listen. We will also have a Drama Therapist to support the workshop, and if anyone has any concerns prior, during or after the workshop they will be welcome to speak with us. 

Lisa: We hope to hear other people’s stories, and with consent we would love to put some of these thoughts – completely anonymised– into the final show. We’ll explain how that works and how we’ll seek consent at the workshop. It’s part of Spare Tyre’s tradition to work with communities. And this is a silent unseen community. My story is not isolated and I am hoping the more we talk about the presence and impact of elder abuse, we can help raise its profile and promote campaigns that work towards a society that protects vulnerable people.