Writer-in-Residence
for Leeds Hospitals Trust
Above is a piece created during a creative communication workshop...
...I was working with staff who cared for people with severe dementia, and we were looking at all sorts of ways of creatively getting through the communication barriers - and having fun while doing it.
The range of projects...
I did masses of writing and creativity projects during my 18 months as Writer-in-Residence for all six of Leeds' hospitals, and really loved working with patients, staff and
visitors throughout the Trust (which is the largest in Europe).
I worked with:
very elderly patients in their last few days of life;
teenagers with cancer;
nurses who had more than 30 years service;
parents of miscarried, stillborn or disabled children;
patients with severe dementia;
Mums and Dads waiting in maternity for the birth
of their baby;
hospital staff responsible for dealing with complaints;
gardening and cleaning staff;
health and safety staff;
infection control staff;
children who had been seriously abused...
It was a huge project and gave me a completely different 'take' on the NHS. Here is a record of just one of the projects that I did while there: 100 Poetry Posters For Waiting Rooms.
"Hospitals are difficult and complex institutions for a writer to make significant cultural interventions. However, Char March created a hugely successful and transformational writing residency for Tonic, the arts programme for the Leeds Teaching Hospitals. Char applied her writing talents and personal charisma to develop a number of initiatives to enrich the experience of being treated, or being employed, at the LTH hospitals. She worked at bedsides with a broad cross-section of patients, gauging their different needs and either making their day with her enrapturing poetry readings or by helping patients craft their own poems. Char compiled a daily menu of poems to be delivered across all wards with patients’ lunch trays for a Food For Thought project. She also worked with two graphic design artists to create a series of one hundred eye-catchingly beautiful ‘poetry boards’ for outpatient areas, liaising with poets to allow the hospitals to use their work. Beyond all of this, Char undertook individual work with staff and patients on an on-demand basis, giving painstaking attention to their particular projects. Char’s enthusiasm, engagement and respect for others, together with her talents as a writer, gave us confidence in everything she proposed followed by huge pleasure in the results."
Gail Bolland - Arts Coordinator, Tonic, Leeds Hospitals Trust
visitors throughout the Trust (which is the largest in Europe).
I worked with:
very elderly patients in their last few days of life;
teenagers with cancer;
nurses who had more than 30 years service;
parents of miscarried, stillborn or disabled children;
patients with severe dementia;
Mums and Dads waiting in maternity for the birth
of their baby;
hospital staff responsible for dealing with complaints;
gardening and cleaning staff;
health and safety staff;
infection control staff;
children who had been seriously abused...
It was a huge project and gave me a completely different 'take' on the NHS. Here is a record of just one of the projects that I did while there: 100 Poetry Posters For Waiting Rooms.
"Hospitals are difficult and complex institutions for a writer to make significant cultural interventions. However, Char March created a hugely successful and transformational writing residency for Tonic, the arts programme for the Leeds Teaching Hospitals. Char applied her writing talents and personal charisma to develop a number of initiatives to enrich the experience of being treated, or being employed, at the LTH hospitals. She worked at bedsides with a broad cross-section of patients, gauging their different needs and either making their day with her enrapturing poetry readings or by helping patients craft their own poems. Char compiled a daily menu of poems to be delivered across all wards with patients’ lunch trays for a Food For Thought project. She also worked with two graphic design artists to create a series of one hundred eye-catchingly beautiful ‘poetry boards’ for outpatient areas, liaising with poets to allow the hospitals to use their work. Beyond all of this, Char undertook individual work with staff and patients on an on-demand basis, giving painstaking attention to their particular projects. Char’s enthusiasm, engagement and respect for others, together with her talents as a writer, gave us confidence in everything she proposed followed by huge pleasure in the results."
Gail Bolland - Arts Coordinator, Tonic, Leeds Hospitals Trust
