PATINA (Parents & Teachers In the Arts) is a charity created at the turn of the millennium to give young people in the Lewes District the opportunity to experience and enjoy art, work directly with professional artists and gain a sense of belonging and community through the arts.

Patina organizes an annual “Moving On Parade” to celebrate local children’s transition from primary school and into adolescence. It has become a unique and much loved rite of passage. Over 9000 children have participated since 2001 and it is now at the heart of local culture and community. Around 400 children from 15 schools participated in Moving On in 2024.

The Moving On theme this year was “Welcome To Our Table”, celebrating local food and all the fun of growing, cooking and eating together. Patina partnered with The Green Cuisine Trust, a great food charity based just outside Barcombe, and Moving Sounds, who went with Patina into all the schools to chat and sing with the children about the superpowers we get from eating local seasonal food.

Hamsey pupils with Daphne Lamert of Greencuisine, Keith Ellis of Moving Sounds, Patina artst Leigh Hodgkinson and Caroline Croft, Director of Patina

Having learnt about the theme, all the children participated in costume design and making workshops in their schools with Patina artists artists. The project culminates in the Moving On Parade itself, an extraordinary children’s carnival through central Lewes. The resulting carnival was a blaze of colour and celebration in Lewes on 5 July 2024. Thousands come to cheer the children on and wish them well as they moved on.

Kooky Cupcakes

A lovely part of Moving On is making a collective artwork to which each school contributes a piece. This year the schools each decorated a large kooky cupcake that they carried in the parade and placed on a giant cake stand in the Paddock during the post parade celebrations.

Growing Up

Given the Patina theme was all about food, Patina wanted to give the children the chance to do some food growing themselves. With the generous support of the Enjoolata Foundation, they produced special Moving On cress seed packets as a gift for all the children.

Recipe for Life Moving On celebrates a significant transition stage for children as they move into adolescence. Patina asked all the children what ingredients they think are important for a happy life. What they have said is gorgeous, inciteful and often very wise. They made a large Recipe for Life with all their thoughts.