Tim has designed the Tree of Life and the graphics are posted below. Let me know what you think.

Thought we’d share some of the quotes gathered of what the hospice means to the people who go there regularly. To everyone we spoke to it’s not just a building and a service but a place of support, excellence, friendliness and ‘heart warming community’ a ‘home’.

The hospice… “means everything to me at the moment…it’s a heart warming community”

“…everyone is so understanding…friendly…loyal…thank you!”

“…the staff are so dedicated they are like a breed apart”

“…we have fun and laughter…”

“…excellent, fantastic…a friendly atmosphere”

“Caring…understanding…many memories”

“Lots of love…there are all age groups but we all fit in…supportive, friendly and such a lovely atmosphere”

“It feels like somebody’s home”

“…being here has given me confidence”

Whilst we were there I chatted for a long while to a Patrick, who had so many stories and memories to share. He’s a keen writer with a creative flair for poetry and whilst we were there he shared three poems – one entitled ‘Robbo’ written in memory of Claire who recently died and is sadly missed by all at the hospice, and another poem about the staff of Little Bloxwich and Hospice, and one entitled ‘Dex and his Angels’ about the Friday group.

With thanks and credit to Patrick Gee here is one of his poems that gives an insight into the friendly Friday group….

Dex and his Angels

Now every Friday at about half past ten.

They all arrive and you know, there will be mayhem,

First on the agenda is toast and tea,

Then “who won the bonus ball on the lottery?”

Now they start to have a good old chin wag,

Can anyone guess what Sid’s got in his bag?

You’re right it’s chocolates and sweets to share,

And there’s fruit in the bowl if you fancy a pear.

Now there’s Lorraine and Zoe studying the Avon book,

To see which make up is the latest look!

Now Zoe’s a stunner since Lorraine put her on the right track,

And nobody’s prouder than Gary and Zac!

Now if it’s a necklace you’re after.

Lorraine will design one that’s fit to win a Bafta,

And next in line and all the way from Moxley,

Is someone special, that’s right it’s our Girly,

She has a way with words and you must listen to understand fully,

Oh and by the way I’m the only one to see her bully,

Now not far away is our Jean and our Clare,

They’ll natter all day, will this pair.

Now Jean is a lady, our own Queen you could say,

And she always brings some coasters back when she’s been on holiday.

Clare is everyone’s Mom or Grandma,

And you know what she ain’t a bit la did a,

She told me when she was young she didn’t have much dosh,

But you know she’s our very own “posh”

Elaine and Terry are deep in conversation,

He’s telling her that “Cuba” is a great nation.

He likes his music and he’s got a great voice,

He’s a “revolutionary” and “che’s” his first choice.

Elaine is clever, that’s why she’s a teacher,

She has great faith and would make a good preacher.

Jackie is sitting not far away,

Reading the paper for news of the day.

She’s another one who likes a good natter,

Of what or who – really doesn’t matter.

I forgot about Phil, he’s an interesting type,

And he likes nothing more than to puff on his pipe,

He’s a clever man, is our Phil,

And at dominoes he is quite brill!

Next in line is a dapper little man,

Yes you’ve guessed it’s our Stan.

Now what this bloke’s got, you cannot buy,

It’s a mischievous grin and a twinkle in his eye.

Finally we come to our Dex, so reliant,

Our very own gentle giant,

At quizzes he really is a whiz,

In fact he’s that good he ought to be in showbiz,

Now that is our gang, a right friendly bunch.

Blimey it’s one already – time for lunch!

In the afternoon they will sit and reflect.

And perhaps think of those past, with great respect.

Now it is time for our quiz or dominoes,

And so the afternoon ebbs and flows.

The about three it’s time for bingo to begin,

At three thirty it’s time to depart,

But we’ll be back next week and make a fresh start.

So that is the end of my tale about the Friday mob – I think it’s time to shut my gob!

Patrick Gee

‘Well this is really my first official submission on the Goscote blog and it’s quite exciting! I have been feeling like I want to share what I have been seeing and hearing as I have been out and about since the project started.

The consultation workshops are well underway now and it has been a flurry of activity at the Little Bloxwich Day Hospice, Edgar Stammers Junior School, the Over 50’s Forum, Electric Palace and at Blakenall Young People’s Information Centre. I have popped along to many of the workshops and it’s been really interesting to hear all the ideas and stories that are being shared. It’s clear that this project is really getting people talking!

A few weeks ago both Dominic and Sasha delivered workshops with classes of year 6 pupils at Edgar Stammers School. It was a hub of excitement with pupils making small glass etchings, pin hole cameras and talking about all the things that they do that they enjoy in life and that are fun. A wide variety of images were created on the glass pieces, some minute in detail, some abstract and some very bold imagery. It’s amazing how different they all were but how well they looked all displayed together.

It will be interesting to see what photos are developed from the pin hole cameras and how all the designs are developed!’

So, we are heading into Easter now.  There is going to be a further artists, art workers, contractor and client meet straight after the break with a view to deciding on the glass colour schemes at the front of the building. We will be looking at some draft design ideas after the break too.

We have found the best way to make these kind of decisions, even in these days of incredible comunicative technology is to get together in the same room.  You just can’t beat a chat over a cup of tea!

Happy Easter

Glen

Here are a selection of pictures from Ming on the workshops that have taken place at the Blakenall Over 50′s club, Little Bloxwich Day Hospice and Edgar Stammars Junior School. As you can see, a lot of fun was had by all. Tim,  Sasha and Dominic are all in their repective studios designing away with inspitration from what they have seen and heard.

Best wishes

Glen

Dominic posted this after his workshop with our group at the Little Bloxwich Day Hospice. My thanks go to him for taking the time and trouble to post up this entry.

Glen
At the Little Bloxwich Day Hospice I presented the group with a brief slide show of my work and took along a couple of actual pieces for them to see. They seemed very interested and enthusiastic so this was a good start. I then explained how I want to make pieces of work around Walsall for the new hospice and that I want them to be the inspiration and direction for the new work. We looked at photographs of Walsall from both past and present and began to discuss the places that people thought were important to them and fitted in with the theme of ‘A Celebration of Life’. This created great enthusiasm and many ideas were put forward. We used Google Earth to ‘fly’ over Walsall and find the places people were talking about. Many of the group were quite impressed by this technology and enjoyed looking at places they know from above.

Through discussions with the group as a whole, smaller groups and with individuals, a long list of potential places to work with was formed. Thanks to Kerry for keeping track of all the suggestions! It was very rewarding to see how the discussions about their places evoked so many memories and emotions. Many anecdotes were coming to the surface and memories shared. I was impressed how even those who struggled to communicate made great efforts to tell me their stories.

It was interesting to see that many of the places suggested are rural or park scenes. Nature and water are themes that people obviously feel comfortable with, although there were some buildings in the list too. The group generally agreed that some of the artworks should represent well known places in or around Walsall while others could reveal lesser know more ‘secret’ places that exist in the local area.

So I now have a long list of places put forward by the group and will begin to work with these locations and looking forward to sharing the results with the hospice group at various stages over the coming months.

Here are a few of the places put forward:

Park Lime Pits
The Arboretum
The Canals (various locations)
Barr Beacon
Willenhall Memorial Park
Pelsall Common
Bluebell Wood
Rough Wood Nature Reserve

A few images of some of these places:

The Walsall Arboretum                    Park Lime Pits

The Canal

Dominic Pote

I gave the 26 year 6 children at Edgar Stammers school talk about photography and managed to get them all to matchbox make pinhole cameras to take home with them. It was a challenge to oversee so many cameras being made at once but there was great enthusiasm and excitement at the idea of making their own cameras. It was interesting to see how digital photography has influenced young people’s perception of photography. Many of the children were wondering where they could see the picture on the camera, obviously used to using digital cameras and phone-cameras. When I told them that they would not see the results for a few weeks, they were quite surprised!

The children have each taken their matchbox camera home (each fitted with a 36 exposure film) and will hopefully be making interesting images at home and their environment, working on the theme of ‘a celebration of life’.

I am looking forward to seeing what results come back. Hopefully there may be potential for a piece of work to be created from their images. I am also planning to make another workshop at the school using an ‘instant pinhole’ camera which should give the children a chance to see their results somewhat faster!

Dominic Pote

Goscote Monumental Art Project

The work on the Goscote Monumental Art Project involving Little Bloxwich Day Hospice patients got off to a fantastic start. The patients seemed a little apprehensive to begin with but were soon totally engrossed in what they were doing. The patients sat with staff and artists and discussed what ‘Celebrating Life ’ meant to them. During this discussion patients identified certain colours and what that colour reminded them of.

Patient comment “The session was great fun .Sascha was lovely to talk to and very enthusiastic. She inspired me and helped get my creative juices going”

The therapeutic side of this session was evident as the patients involved talked about their lives and what things influenced them. It was fascinating to listen to.One Jamaican lady described the colours of a banana as it ripens and how it reminded her of her happy childhood.The patients were obviously enjoying themselves and therefore forgetting their troubles for a while.

Staff comment “the artists were very open to everyone’s thoughts and ideas”

“The artists encouraged an eruption of thoughts from all those involved.”

The two workshops we have been involved in have really left us wanting more. The staff and patients are very excited about this project and are thoroughly enjoying the process.

Patient comment “ I have really enjoyed today’s session. Tim is very enthusiastic and made me feel involved right from the start.

Well done to the team and many thanks to the people involved It was a pleasure to watch our patients working as a group and feeling so positive about it.

Tracey Grinell and the staff at Little Bloxwich Day Hospice.

We haven’t had any pictures in from Ming about the Little Bloxwich Day Hospice workshops just yet, but we do have some pictures from the workshops that took place earlier in the week at the youth centre, The Electric Palace in Bloxwich.  An important part of the Goscote Monumental Art Project is to raise awareness of the issues around a hospice with young people in the area.

Rachel and I have met with Alison Coles who heads the Anglican Chaplaincy Team at the Manor Hospital in Walsall.  She introduced us to Jeet Sohal of the Sikh faith, Manu Vias of the Hindu Forum and Mr. Mahmood Sacha of the Union of Moslem Organisations, known as UMO.  We spent an hour taliking about the multi faith aspect of the Sacred Space which will house one of Sasha’s glass pieces. It was a lively chat with much useful insight gained and I was able to get in my favorite Father Ted line ‘Well,now, that would be an eccumenical matter’.

This project is getting emotionally moving. Everyone we talk to is interested in it.  Everyone has a story to tell highlighting the importance of excellent quality end of life care for everyone.  In particular, and this will stay with me, I saw a group of people last Friday at the Day Hospice support each other through the pain of the death of their friend. Still they were able to take part in the workshop, in fact they contributed so many ideas and ways forward that Tim and I came away tired but happy.  Their quiet determination to continue until continuing is no longer an option is a testament to all that is good about being a human being.

Happy New Year! This first blog entry of 2010 is not full of good news. As Robbie Burns writes in his poem It was a’ for our Rightfu’ King;

 Now a’ is done that men can do

And a’ is done in vain

 He was so right! We have been hit by the weather. Just look at the view outside our office window. It took me two and a half hours to get in this morning, a journey that usually takes 30 minutes.

 We were hoping to get underway straight after Christmas and we spent a bit of time before the holiday making the arrangements for a series of workshops with the artists to happen in January and February, but this second bout of snow has severely disrupted travel in the West Midlands. We had two workshops planned this week. Dominic was coming to work with the people from the Little Bloxwich Day Hospice on Friday, but Tracey Grinell and I have decided to postpone that event as people who are already ill don’t need to struggle in through the snow. And Tracy Gould from the over 50’s with Rachel may have to decide to pull Tim’s Thursday’s workshop because of the snow. Tracy is holed up in Rugeley in Staffordshire with only her snowman for company.

Ho hum ……..

Glen