Back
HELLINGLY CENTRE 2019
This project has been transformative for our patients, and over the six months Hospital Rooms have been on-site at Hellingy we have watched, not just our building, but also our patients come to life. It has been an exercise in the healing power that creativity and meaningful engagement can have on fractured human souls. We have men and women who have rarely engaged attend workshops with people they do not know, and learn new skills. This may seem small, but in the closed world of the psychiatric ward it is huge. Monumental.
– Laury Jeanneret.
PROJECT INTRODUCTION
The Hellingly Centre in some ways is fortunate, it is not a Victorian building, so our patients are spared the claustrophobia of an outdated and decrepit environment. As a new building Hellingly has space in spades – wide corridors, high ceilings, lots of natural light. All good things. But what it didn’t have until the Hospital Rooms project, was any soul. It felt like exactly what it is, an institution. And the problem with institutional environments is that the subtle nuances of what it means to be human get lost in uniformity. This project has been transformative for our patients, and over the six months Hospital Rooms have been on-site at Hellingy we have watched, not just our building, but also our patients come to life. It has been an exercise in the healing power that creativity and meaningful engagement can have on fractured human souls. We have men and women who have rarely engaged attend workshops with people they do not know, and learn new skills. This may seem small, but in the closed world of the psychiatric ward it is huge. Monumental.
- Laury Jeanneret
Niamh White
Co-Founder
Niamh (Pronounced Neve) is a medium height white woman with light brown hair. Her pronouns are she/her. She was born in Dublin, raised in Cornwall and now lives in London.
Niamh does something different every day but mostly loves dreaming up the future of Hospital Rooms. She builds projects, generates funding, monitors our impact and plans for the long term. Niamh is a curator who began her career on the front desk at Hauser & Wirth, worked for Nick Knight at SHOWstudio and has undertaken a variety of independent projects. She has always been fascinated by the ways in which the arts can drive social change. Niamh likes essay collections – a recent favourite is All We Can Save by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K Wilkinson. She likes getting blown around on the Cornish coast.
Tim Shaw
Co-Founder
Tim is a tall man with brown hair and eyes. He lives in London, grew up in Kent and had Welsh, Scottish and Pakistani grandparents. He has Tourettes Syndrome so has some frequent facial and body tics. His pronouns are he/him.
Tim started the charity with Niamh. He raises funds for the projects and works with the different teams on how to deliver their projects. Tim is an artist and makes installations, light sculptures and paintings. He started his career in the arts as an Art Technician and ran his own art installation company for 10 years. With Niamh, outside of Hospital Rooms, he runs an art prize for exceptional emerging artists. He authored a book called Draw & Be Happy. He eats a Mars Ice Cream every day.
Our patients have loved this process. Some, who have never engaged with the arts before, have wept tears of joy, described the workshops as ‘the best day of their lives’ and told us the sessions have eased times of utter despair.
Thank You
This project was supported by a wide variety of partners without whom it would not be possible. We are very grateful to: Sussex Partnership NHS Trust, Arts Council England, James Parker, Garfield Weston Foundation, Isabella Blow Foundation and and Liquitex