Sue Hickey of Thorpe Bay nominated Open Arts, a charity managed within South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT) for a “Making a Difference Locally” (MADL) donation.
Open Arts is a community arts project promoting positive mental health through creativity with studios at Hadleigh Old Fire Station and courses across south Essex.
Sue nominated her daughter Maria Hickey who volunteers for the charity at the Open Arts studios as a MADL Star.
Sue said “I nominated Maria and Open Arts because I know they always need help with funding and Maria really enjoys volunteering.”
Sue was delighted to win a donation of £500 for the charity and Maria chose to help organise a day trip with the funds with Open Arts manager Jo Keay.
Thanks to the donation, members of the Open Art’s studios had a day trip to London to take part in a workshop at the Wallace Collection. The group were given a tour around the museum and studied patterns in the armour collection for a printing workshop.
The feedback was really positive with members saying:
“it was a great place and very inspiring-you never knew what you were going to come across every time you entered another room!”
“I loved the day out at the Wallace Collection. I feel genuinely lucky that I have found Open Arts, it has enriched my life in so many ways.”
Open Arts manager Jo Keay said “We are extremely grateful to Sue for nominating Maria and Open Arts, and to all our volunteers that do so much for the project. We truly believe Open Arts changes lives and it is immensely gratifying to be recognised nationally in this way.”
For more information about Open Arts and how you can get involved please visit http://www.openartsessex.com or https://www.facebook.com/septopenarts