When I first arrived at Stanfield Care Home in Rushwick there was an air of waiting. Carers and residents appeared in windows from within the building, looked briefly at the unusual activity outside, then disappeared again. On the gravel drive an eclectic mix of cameras, microphones, people with clipboards and others looking expectant and some bemused, were gathering. Social distancing and the wearing of protective masks changed the relationships but took nothing away from the impending sense of something unusual, different and exciting about to happen.
Rachael from Vamos Theatre was already in front of a television camera when I first arrived. She was setting the scene and giving the background to ‘The Wednesday Wave’ project for the local news audiences. Other members of Vamos Theatre were organising, with a mix of efficiency, excitement and maybe a little bit of apprehension. Central Television was there, BBC Midlands Today, Hereford and Worcester radio and later the Mayor arrived, a vicar, relatives of the care home residents, members of Vamos Central, primary school teachers and lots and lots of children who seemed to appear out of nowhere. Josh, an actor with Vamos Theatre, donned a Vamos character mask and wielded a tape measure as a symbolic prop representing the need for gathering in ‘bubbles’ and keeping two metres apart.
On my short drive from Malvern to Rushwick I had wondered what to expect from ‘The Wednesday Wave’. People waving on a Wednesday I guessed. But even before it had begun it felt much more than that. Within a few minutes the waving grew from an isolated hand, to two hands, to a sea of gestures; a couple of people at first, then a few, then small groups and eventually a whole line of individuals and social bubbles passed by a window of the care home. And every single person was waving, smiling, laughing. Some, the younger ones, were skipping and jumping. There were dogs being picked up, paws waving, tails wagging and even their animal faces seemed to know that they were involved in something new, in something special and in something that should last forever. And from behind the windows the residents waved back.
At that moment I realised ‘The Wednesday Wave’ wasn’t really about waving at all. If the tape measure was a symbol of social distancing then the waving was a symbol of something else. It was a symbol of togetherness, of caring and of community. It was helping to defeat the isolation and loneliness of our most vulnerable. It was bringing people together no matter what the barriers between them. The smiles on the faces of Bob and Shirley, two of the residents behind their protective glass who waved back with enthusiasm and excitement, told me all of this. The shout of ‘I love you’ from one of the smallest primary school children, as he thrust both waving hands as high into the air as he could reach, told me this. Josh, now in his Vamos Theatre mask and the costume of an NHS frontline worker, told me this. The hands of a small child in her mother's arms, who waved but was too young to know why, told me this.
I talked to many people whilst I was there and they all told me different things. Josh, the actor, told me he’d been asked to keep a low profile as today wasn’t about performance, cameras or publicity. I talked to the Mayor who was impressed by the idea of ‘The Wednesday Wave’ and who hoped it would continue and grow. I talked to someone I didn’t even know who told me that this was the first time they’d truly felt ‘good about life’ since the pandemic began.
I know ‘The Wednesday Wave’ is planned to run from 14th October until the 16th December when as many care homes, individuals or anyone who finds themselves isolated and lonely, can invite a wave by displaying a poster or the decorated shape of a hand in their window. My hope is that during this time as many people as possible will get involved and having seen the power of a simple wave I would encourage all to do so.
John Plant
Find out how to get involved at www.vamostheatre.co.uk/the-wednesday-wave