Canvassing happiness in challenging times | News

Last week Oncology were lucky to receive a wonderful gift of a canvas painting from the local company ‘Canvassing Happiness’.

Headed by a local artist from Liphook, Canvassing Happiness was set up by Zoe Oliver with the support of Sophie Claret. The two worked together to organise a collaborative art project in aid of ‘Careforce’, a nationwide network of care providers, healthcare workers and volunteers.

Zoe has been teaching art lessons for years, so when Covid-19 meant she couldn’t anymore, she had the initiative of using her art virtually to support those in isolation.

Canvassing Happiness reached out to the local community by providing art packs ‘with a difference’ to self-isolated and vulnerable people. This was with the aim of keeping their spirits up during these unsettling times.

With these packs, children of all ages from the local community created the first painting which now has a home in St Lukes.

The piece is made up of 25 small canvases, which were each painted by a different person, and put together to form the pieces of a giant puzzle, creating a colourful elephant for patients and staff to admire.

Vicki Mumford, Divisional Head of Nursing for Oncology, said: “We are delighted to receive this wonderful piece of artwork to brighten up our waiting room.

“Thank you to not only Zoe and Sophie for the donation, but also to each child who painted a square of the canvas. And a big thank you to Aga Kehinde, Macmillan Practice Educator at Royal Surrey, for arranging for it to be donated to us.

“Hopefully it will bring some more cheer to patients who are waiting here for their appointments.”

The canvas painting can be found on Level B of St Luke’s.