Interview With an Entrepreneur: Susan Langford

20 years ago Susan Langford founded an intergenerational arts organisation called Magic Me. The premise behind the innovative idea is to bring together groups of young people and groups of older people with the purpose of co-creating art as a means of community development. There are many learning and health benefits the participants gain from this but Susan says that bringing together generations who might not usually interact also breaks down negative stereotypes and builds positive relationships. Zenobia Talati talks to her.

Name: Susan Langford

Age: 49

Job Title: Director and Social Entrepreneur

Organisation: Magic Me

Susan worked as a graphic designer before starting up Magic Me. But after volunteering in a community play in Islington she saw how valuable it was for people of different ages and cultures to be brought together through the arts. She says that in a large and diverse city such as London it becomes easy for people to only interact with particular groups and this can lead to misconceptions or feelings of fear about others.

While young people and older people are often thought to lead opposite lifestyles, Susan says they actually face very similar difficulties. For example both groups are perceived to be at the fringes of society, often having their voices ignored or getting lumped into negative age-related stereotypes. But bringing these generations together can help build confidence and form more cohesive and inclusive communities.

Much of Magic Me’s work is done in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets with participants from many places including schools, community and cultural organisations, older people’s clubs, hospitals and care homes. Projects in other areas are commissioned locally, most recently in White City and County Sligo, Ireland. Susan employs freelance artists who run diverse projects in everything from creative writing and weaving to photography and puppetry.

Older people in hospitals and care homes can often feel isolated and depressed but Susan says she has seen people feel more connected with the outside world and self-esteem grow through participation in intergenerational arts projects. Some younger people can also have a lot of fear or ignorance around the aging process and breaking down these perceived barriers has been extremely positive for them.

Magic Me has just completed the fifth year of its annual projects in partnership with The Women’s Library and Mulberry School for Girls. It is working with diverse groups of young women and older women to deliver themed projects which aim to promote learning, build relationships and challenge negative stereotypes. With the aid of professional artists, participants explore issues of common concern and interest which are expressed through creative arts and shared with the wider community.

“You find that there are always topics that resonate with the two generations whether it’s exploring the concept of beauty or pressures to do domestic work or comparing shades of lipstick” Susan says.

Magic Me ran a four-year action research project with people with dementia based in Mile End Hospital. Performing and visual artists led a series of creative activities for the older people and for hospital staff from different disciplines including nursing, speech and language therapy, psychology and occupational therapy. Susan says that it was unusual for patients and staff to come together as equals to paint, make puppets and tell stories. She says the focus was placed on expression in the present, rather than the usual concern about what people cannot do and this was a really positive shift.

Susan recognises that there is a danger for intergenerational projects to just reinforce negative stereotypes if they are not properly organised. She also says there is a tendency for people to view it as ‘cute’, which is something she works against. One of the strengths of Magic Me is in the amount of preparation that goes into each project. This includes running sessions with the groups separately to allow them to explore any fears and apprehension before meeting.

Susan describes herself as creative rather than entrepreneurial but there is evidently a great deal of overlap in both these things. She says that her training and experience as a designer has given her important skills that have helped her to set up and run Magic Me.

“I am an artist or a designer, more usually a designer. Those are roles where one is always making new things, imagining what has not been done before, starting to create something without knowing where one will end up. But artists don’t call that entrepreneurial, they call it art, or design or creative. I can’t imagine doing things any other way. I would call myself creative.”

Susan was one of 33 people chosen by Gordon Brown in his book 'Britain’s Everyday Heroes', which profiles people who have given the Prime Minister fresh insights into the needs and aspirations of the country. He says:

“Susan’s work is so profound because it is driven not by a fear of division or polarisation but by a wonder and curiosity about people, a desire to celebrate the uniqueness of individual experience, and a belief in the huge amount every individual has to give and to gain from sharing their uniqueness with those who are different from them.”

In her spare time Susan is also a keen collector of Manor Ware teapots, a passion inspired by a gift from her grandmother when she was six. Her collection is on show as part of an unusual exhibition on Stratford Station, part of Transport for London’s Art on the Underground programme, until August 23.

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