Family Arts Week

This October Half Term, GOSH Arts and the Activity Centre collaborated to host the 5th annual Family Arts Week, a festival of the arts which took place across the hospital! During the week families (and staff) enjoyed pop-up performances and workshops in unexpected places across the hospital, including in the reception, lift lobbies, the Activity Centre and on the wards.This year the focus was on literature and saw poets, graphic novel writers, story tellers and musicians deliver a multitude of activities and performances for families to engage with during their visit to GOSH.

Lots of exciting things happened each day, but these are some of our Family Arts Week highlights!

The amazing Iroko Theatre Company, used interactive storytelling, drama, music and dance to tell ancient African stories to families and showed them some group drumming techniques, which have proven benefits for participants sense of wellbeing!

The Postal Museum and Big Wheel Theatre Company brought the history of the suffragette movement to life and marked the centenary of some women getting the vote.  Two suffragettes visited the hospital to talk to people about the importance of women being able to vote and to tell the remarkable story of 2 women posting themselves to 10 Downing Street!

Wilfred the Post Box wandered through the hospital encouraging families to rediscover the lost art of letter writing. Families wrote letters to places as far away as South African and as close as the Physio department! The letters were popped in the post, or hand delivered by the post mistress Whilhamena!

Thanks to all the artists and organisations who were involved in making the week so special: Ali Winstanley, Amelia Boo, Big Wheel Theatre Company, Chichester Festival, Doodles and Scribbles, Emily Haworth Booth, Georgina Davy, Gary Day, Jennifer Lunn, Joanna Brinton, John Kelley, Judge, Matt Shaw, National Portrait Gallery, Nadia Shireen, Peut-Être Theatre, Testament, Postal Museum, Scoop Magazine, Iroko Theatre Company.