By Joanne Robinson & Melissa Haddow
Last week our team delivered hundreds of beautiful hand drawn Christmas cards to care home residents across Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire. Each card had been designed, drawn and painted with great care by children giving up their time to reach out to some of the most vulnerable members of our community. There was something very poignant and precious about the handwritten messages of hope and love that touched all our hearts.
Our Christmas card project brought together every part of our organsation. Students from our Little Art Schools in Ayr, Troon, Dundonald and Clarkston all created wonderful cards. Our children’s charity, the Little Art Stars SCIO, took materials into our partner schools: Kincaidston, Newton, Braehead and Forehill primaries, and we sat back in awe as the schools collected wonderful works of art from all the children. Then our Dementia Charity, the Dementia Arts Trust, delivered them to all the care homes we partner with.
We had competitions in all of our Little Art Stars partner schools and the most difficult part of this lovely project was selecting winners and runners up when every single card felt like a winner to us!
Here are a few of the fabulous winning entries :
Lily F, 9, Forehill Primary
Indie, 10, Forehill Primary
Millie, Newton Primary
Shortlisted & Winners from Braehead Primary
We both spend a great deal of time, like any other business owners and charity founders, dealing with challenges and coping with the everyday whilst always planning for the future. This year has thrown up more challenges than any other but as the year draws to a close, we can reflect on how we all as a team have risen to meet every challenge head on.
There has been something very special about this project for every member of the team. Despite the breadth of the work we do, we are a small team and we are all deeply committed to the vision of our company and charities. Bringing the work of our children in the studios together with the work of both charities has felt very special this Christmas. This project has helped us to end our year feeling a real sense of pride in the Little Art School.
Our Amazing Michelle delivering Christmas cards in Kilmarnock
We can also think of all those beautiful Christmas cards, bringing joy in care homes across the west of Scotland and of the children who gave up their time to create their festive master pieces. For us it has meant every strand of what we do coming together to bring the Christmas spirit alive and we are so grateful to our team for not just making it happen but for making it happen with real enthusiasm and joy. Yes, this has been a difficult year, but community spirit still shines strong and we still reach out to give each other hope, even in the darkest of days.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a 2021 filled with joy, and maybe a little art!