Rampton CareRing: activity suggestions

We're pretty sure that being in isolation isn't on anyone's bucket list but, if that is where you are (or even if not!), here are a few ideas to pass some time.  Just click on the plus sign beside each of the categories to view the content.   If you have other suggestions please send them to [email protected] and we'll add them to the list.

The Virtual Village Hall   (launched by the Royal Voluntary Service) is a programme of themed online activities designed to enjoy at home. Sessions are led by expert tutors, Royal Voluntary Service activity coordinators, volunteers and some well-known faces, and require very little space or equipment. You’ll find a wide range of sessions to take part in, like creative arts and crafts, music and singing, cooking and baking, dance and exercise, and technology skills. Join in with live sessions or catch up on demand when it suits you. All classes are free.

Click on the  + below to view contents

  • The Louvre's entire art collection is now available to view online
  • Take a virtual tour of Frida Kahlo’s house and museum. Brilliantly blue and well worth exploring
  • J P Brewer - View classic paintings online
  • Walter's Museum - houses the highest artistic achievements from nearly every corner of the world. View some of the past, present, and future exhibitions
  • Rob Biddulph an artist posting draw-along videos via Twitter here
  • Google Arts and Culture - Learn something new every day!
  • Via the National Gallery Youtube channel to discover the story of European art, masterpiece by masterpiece, go behind the scenes at the Gallery and learn how their Scientific Department identifies pigments, watch how gold leaf is applied, and more. Also talks and previous exhibitions
  • Virtual tour of Kettle’s Yard  in Cambridge
  • For contemporary art enthusiasts, the New Hall Art Collection is a unique Cambridge landmark in that it hosts an extensive, permanent collection of work exclusively by female artists. In this, it is the largest collection of its kind in Europe.
  • Explore London's top art galleries  Dulwich Picture Gallery, Hayward Gallery, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Academy, Serpentine Galleries, Tate Britain, Tate Modern, and the Wallace Collection
  • 500 Art Galleries and Museums free online access
  • So many works to explore at the Art Institue of Chicago - thousands of artworks in the museum’s wide-ranging collection from their world-renowned icons to lesser-known gems from every corner of the globe as well as books, writings, reference materials, and other resources
  • 2,500 art galleries and museums to visit virtually

  • Send a free Quentin Blake rainbow E-card to cheer somebody up
  • Phone a friend or family member. Call, text, FaceTime, or Zoom someone you haven’t spoken to in a while.
  • Work on your family tree - subscriptions to Ancestry and Find My Past make it easy to do from home but you can start with just a sheet of paper, a pen and family photos

  • BBC languages - learn languages online for free
  • Curious Minds Compiled by academics and staff of Oxford Continuing Education, these freely available educational resources may help to entertain you during challenging times. Visit the world’s museums, libraries, language centres and more – and give your brain a workout – all from your own home.
  • FutureLearn have interesting free courses (unless you want a certificate) put together by universities across the world. Find something that you’d like to learn about. They have courses in a diverse range of subjects and are always adding more. Courses vary in length. Most are six to ten weeks long with some shorter two and three week courses
  • Ivy League courses for free via freeCodeCamp. Courses across all subject areas from these eight Ivy League universities in the US

  • Audible books have a free 30-day trial
  • Project Gutenburg - A library of over 60,000 free e-books, e.g. Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, Frankenstein, etc.
  • Solomon Kingsnorth - Books in PDF, Word and audiobook format - Alice in Wonderland / Wind in the Willows / The Railway Children / The Jungle Book / Peter Pan / Black Beauty
  • Bibliomania Read Free Literature - also includes study guides
  • Manybooks 50,000 free ebooks - arranged by genre

  • Virtually visit hundreds of museums via Google Arts and Culture
  • Explore London's top museums The British Library, British Museum, Horniman Museum and Gardens, Imperial War Museum, London Transport Museum, Museum of London, National Army Museum, National Maritime Museum, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, and the V & A
  • Virtual Museum Tours - wander around some of the world's most popular museums (powered by Google Street View technology)

  • Royal Scottish National Orchestra have weekly online concerts on Friday's at 7.30 pm or catch up on past concerts at any time
  • Duet Yourself - Facebook Virtual Choir. Duet with a choir online
  • Rotterdam Philharmonic musicians team up online to play Beethoven's 9th
  • Berlin Philharmonic live streams and performance archive

  • Crank up some live music with Vulture.    Many acts have started doing free shows from their homes or music studios during lockdown. Vulture gives details of upcoming shows, as well as showing highlights of what's been on so far, including shows by Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift 

  • Iceberger - draw an iceberg and see how it would float
  • Virtual Hill Walking using Google's Streetview who have filmed walking routes on the highest peaks in the three countries in Great Britain (plus a few others).  peaks.
  • Hear the world like never before with Nature Soundmap - dusk chorus from Malaysia, a booming Bittern on the Norfolk Broads, lions in Tanzania, Black Redstart in Kazakhstan and many more
  • Stellarium - online planetarium with lots of features
  • Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.  The beautiful red and orange hoodoos of this desert landscape can be viewed in this virtual tour centred on Sunset Point.
  • Bird web cams  eagles, ospreys, herons, owls, peregrines, hummingbirds, penguins, guillemots and more
  • Live web cams from the world's oceans sharks, manatees, sea otters, tropical fish, kelp forest and many more  manatees,
  • African Wildlife - enjoy wildlife web cams from across Africa
  • Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii  Explore the Nahuku Lava Tube (a cave formed by flowing lava), the stunning view from the volcanic coastal cliffs, “fly” over an active volcano, and see the effects of an eruption from 1959
  • Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska Explore galciers, fjords, and icebergs located in the Alaskan wilderness. Descend into an icy crevasse, kayak through majestic icebergs, and see how a glacier melts and the effects that climate change has o this frozen terrain. 
  • Fly over Italy's Cinque Terre Coast by drone
  • Have a virtual tour of the Monteray Bay Aquarium
  • Yellowstone National Park virtual tours
  • Yosemite National Park virtual tour
  • San Diego Zoo  (Panda, Penguin, Baboon, Polar Bear, Ape, Koala, Giraffe, Burrowing Owl, Condor, Elephant & Tiger cams)
  • Houston Zoo (Giraffe, Gorilla, Chimp, Elephant, Leafcutter Ant & Rhino cams)
  • Edinburgh Zoo (Panda, Koala, penguin & Tiger cams)
  • Niagara Falls With a vertical drop of more than 160 feet, Niagara Falls is one of the world's most exhilarating spectacles
  • Watch the Northern Lights live - aurora cams in Iceland,   Norway,  and Alaska.  Nothing guaranteed so check back often if you are unsuccessful!

  • Explore Cornwall's Eden Project which is offering a host of online activities and information for us all to learn more about the plants and animals around us.  

  • Whats On Stage list stage shows, musicals and opera you can watch online now for free
  • What the Butler Saw  Written by the late Joe Orton and starring Rufus Hound and Dakota Blue Richards
  • Only The Brave available to view free of charge. The rousing original musical tells the story of the soldiers that won the D-Day landings in the Second World War, forever cementing their legacy as heroes.
  • Cosmic Shamble Network - live streaming podcasts such as Book Shambles, Science Shambles and mixed bill Comedy Nights.
  • Fifteen Broadway plays and musicals you can watch on stage from home

  • Watch some cabaret London’s famous Hippodrome venue is putting on a range of free entertainment for punters at home. Lola’s In Your Lounge – appearing on its Facebook and Instagram pages every Wednesday and Saturday – features comedians, magicians, singers and dancers, and there are also free dancing and make-up tutorials. 

  • Experience the razzamatazz of a circus with Cirque du Soleil.  Though it doesn’t quite compare to the all-encompassing experience of seeing it in the flesh, this hour-long special from Cirque du Soleil is a close alternative. The spectacle of dance, music, acrobatics, stunts, fire and more.

  • Zooinverse have many projects requiring volunteers to check data, transcribe files and other interesting tasks. Help with such things as transcribing Anti-Slavery Manuscripts, help explore the surface and weather of Mars' south polar region, help to identify elephant seals and fur seals in the Southern Ocean, identify fish in paintings from the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries so that the researchers can better understand the biodiversity and commercial use of fish during this time, or explore the biodiversity of Sweden's marine habitats so that scientists can measure how climate change and human activities are affecting these ecosystems.
  • Join the NHS volunteer responders Consider your own health condition when choosing role/s. If you are clinically vulnerable to coronavirus (COVID-19) you may prefer their telephone-based Check In and Chat roles
  • Help the Red Cross by joining their Community Reserves Responders
  • The national volunteer platform Do-It have many volunteer options

  • Reach Volunteering specialises in brokering skilled volunteer roles such as trustees, finance and HR offering help to charities to find skilled volunteers to meet the unprecedented challenges they currently face

  • The National Care Force was originally a brokerage platform matching healthcare workers to care homes but they are now matching anyone who wants to donate their time supporting care professionals

  • Foodbanks are continuing to operate you can find out more on the Trussel Trust website

  • Age UK Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are looking for for volunteers to help with shopping, collecting prescriptions and maybe a welfare phone call.

  • Volunteer from home Even if you need to stay at home you may still be able to volunteer - you could offer people a friendly listening ear on the phone, edit documents, manage social media, or knit clothing for premature babies