RHN Paints A Picture Of Living With Neuro-disability

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at the Affordable Art Fair

The Royal Hospital of Neuro-disability (RHN) has been chosen as the beneficiary charity of the 2009 Affordable Art Fair. Devoted to caring for people with profound and complex disabilities caused by brain damage and degenerative diseases of the nervous system, the RHN will open the fair with an evening reception, offering guests a special preview of the exhibit.

The Art Fair, which will be held in Battersea Park, is expected to attract over 20,000 visitors this year, including several celebrity collectors such as Ricky Gervais, Jude Law and Ant & Dec.  The extensive collection will include submissions from residents of the RHN themselves, for whom art as a form of therapy has been integral to their rehabilitation.

It is hoped that the event will raise thousands of pounds, crucial to maintaining a high quality of life for residents of the RHN. More importantly though, the event aims to highlight the daily struggle faced by people living with neuro-disability and the progress they have made in overcoming it.

Katrina Collins, whose daughter Sara is among the ten residents whose work will be showcased at the fair, said:
“Apart from the obvious physical benefits of holding a brush or pencil, for Sara, art enabled her to create something to give to her family.  She still finds it too painful to have photographs of her children around, too much of a reminder of what she has lost, but therapeutic art acts as a contact with family life for Sara and her children.”

For Sara and others like her, art is not just a joyous pastime, but also a step towards restoring their ability to communicate and regaining their independence. A regular feature of the care provided by the RHN, ‘Room for Art’, to give the programme its full name, uses pottery, painting, modelling and drawing as forms of cognitive assessment and rehabilitation.

Art as a form of therapy carries proven benefits for people with neuro-disability such as improvement of cognition, motor skills and self-expression.

Andy Tuthill, another resident whose work will be displayed in the art fair, was a physical training instructor in the Army before suffering a stroke and being cared for by the RHN. He said:
“Art has helped my concentration and memory – it helps me remember the good times, like my grandfather and family history.  My art project focuses on Native Americans and spirituality.  It is based on the Navajo tribe, where my grandfather was from.”

October 15, 2009