Young Carers session - Loudon Lodge May 2025

We made purses with denim offcuts, gaffer tape and bondawebbed fabric. They were fun to do, especially being in Loudon Lodge looking out at the community garden in the Arboretum in the sunshine. 😎

Saturday Art Club - Museum of Making

Jenny worked with young adults to create their own paper at the Museum of Making in March. 

We used eggboxes torn into pieces and blended them to form a pulp, the eggboxes were all different colours, they added wools and threads and seeds.

West Hallam Well Dressing - Why Talking Fixes

We partnered with the charity 'Why Talking Fixes' to create a well dressing for the West Hallam Well Dressing Trail. The charity help young people to recognise suicidal thoughts and where to go for help. We worked with 3 secondary schools - Kirk Hallam, St John Houghton and Ormiston Academy, to make the well dressing while talking about how to combat feeling down, feeling like their is no hope and to talk to someone we trust, friends, teachers, family.  

We took photos of the well dressing at the event and created postcards with support information on the reverse, these will be placed in care bags which are given out to young people by the charity.

The project was funded by Erewash Small Grant Scheme. 

Chinese New Year - Year of the Pig

We spent a week working at Erewash Museum in Ilkeston creating artwork for Chinese New Year.
We worked with a number of schools from the local area, Bennerley School, Chaucer School, Stanton Common School and Brackenfield School. We made red strip lanterns and money purses decorated with pig designs.
On the Saturday we had a busy afternoon working with families creating lanterns with cellophane and LED lights for the procession held at Dallimore School in Kirk Hallam. It was a great session with around 100 people attending.

Workshops with Madeley New Arrivals Group

We have been working with the young people who meet at Madeley Centre, in Normanton.
We have delivered a few sessions creating Christmas foil decorations, a giant marble run and recently lanterns using coloured cellophane.

Foil Decorations @ Madeley

We created a wonderful christmas tree for the Madeley Youth Centre, covered with shiny decorations using foil, string and marker pens.

Lantern Making in half term

We had a busy half term week working with Madeley Youth Group, the ladies at Goldsquad and 2 days of open workshops making lanterns for the LUMINATE lantern festival in the Derby Arboretum.
The week finished at the Derby Mini Makers Faire at Derby Silk Mill Museum. We worked with 130 children to create the LUMINATE banner, phew!!

Tea Party in the Park

Over the last few months we have worked with 4 groups to create an installation in the Orangery in the Arboretum Park.
We worked with residents from Affinity Sutton Housing, Anchor Fold Housing and young people from Madeley Youth Group and Peartree Youth Group making giant flower chandeliers.

The project culminated in a tea party for all involved on 20 March at the Arboretum Spring Fest event.

The installation will on be display until mid April.
Well done to everyone and we hope to continue working with them on future park events in the summer.

  

 The project was supported and funded by Red Nose Community Cash Grants and Foundation Derbyshire

        

Sight Support WW1 Banner Celebrations

We have finally completed the WW1 banner created with the members of sight support groups in Derby, Chesterfield and Clay Cross. We worked with adults and young people, we did research, we visited the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire and we watch soldiers re-enactments to help us create the banner. 
We had a wonderful gathering at the Post Mill in South Normanton to unveil the banner and celebrate everyone's hard work.
The banner will tour venues around Derbyshire over the next few months before being installed in the new Sight Support Derbyshire office.

The banner inspired by the soldiers uniforms, the embroidered postcards and the animals used in the war.

inspired by embroidered postcards

Claire Winfield CEO and Tony Daw project coordinator from Sight Support Derbyshire

Printed bandages with how Sight Support helps people