How Our Arts Team Supported Thank You George's
30 November 2021
The Thank You George’s season, taking place across St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and organised by a working group of the Staff Support, Comms, HR and Estates & Facilities teams has involved a wide variety of initiatives to show gratitude for the astonishing work of colleagues over the past 18 months.
As a key part of this, our Arts Team supported the Trust's Thank You George's Working Group leading on this initiative by organising a range of creative activities which have used art and culture to spread joy as well as a mechanism to reflect on what has been an extremely challenging period for our community.
Staff Choir
Our newly launched Staff Choir has given an opportunity for staff from a variety of roles to come together to have fun while learning familiar and new songs. Alongside a song selected from a call out to staff earlier in the year, the group have collaborated with choir leader Ben See to write their own song lyrics, to be shared in a live performance outside Grosvenor Wing on Wednesday 8th December.
Lunch on Us Live Music
Working with our partners at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, we programmed a line-up of talented student musicians during a mini free food festival for staff at St George’s, adding to the atmosphere with live jazz music each day. Meanwhile, our much-loved harpist Catrin Meek entertained staff at Queen Mary’s while they collected a free lunch as part of the same initiative.
“Thank you for the opportunity for us to be a part of this great week. Being able to give back to the NHS staff is crucial and I’m glad we could contribute in the way we can.” - Saurabh Shivakumar (Trinity Laban Student & Lead Guitarist)
Portraits to a Life of Dedication Exhibition
Following the success of the outdoor exhibition Portraits to a Life of Dedication earlier this year, we installed a new display featuring 132 portraits in the ground floor of Lanesborough Wing.
The portraits reveal the individual personalities and diverse workforce who make Team St George’s and celebrate the collective of exceptional staff working together. The exhibition will be up until March 2022.
Creative Reflection Workshop
Using creative resources, we hosted a space for staff to join with colleagues to respond to a set of key questions in the Wellbeing Hub, helping to reflect Team George’s response to COVID19, which will in turn feed in to a wider and longer term artistic commemorative commission project stretching in to 2022. Watch this space to find out more.
Arts St George’s is the arts programme for St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is part of St George’s Hospital Charity. For more information on the programme, please see here.