Children’s Expressive Artwork - Leigh-on-Sea

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Leigh On Sea News: Children’s Expressive Artwork – Local children showed the emotional impact of incurable illnesses through expressive artwork.

Children’s Expressive Artwork - Local children showed the emotional impact of incurable illnesses through expressive artwork.

LOCAL children showed the emotional impact of incurable illnesses through expressive artwork.

Children supported by Havens Hospices have expressed their feelings about the impact of incurable conditions through artwork, which will be displayed in the Leigh Art Trail.

Artwork created by children in counselling sessions or wellbeing support groups at Havens Hospices was featured in the Leigh Art Trail in The Living Room, Leigh Road, on the 5th and 6th July.

The art exhibition ‘Do you see me?’ featured multiple pieces of beautiful artwork that were created in one-to-one counselling sessions and wellbeing support groups at Havens Hospices. The artwork explored their experiences of living and caring for someone they love who has an incurable condition, or the impact of having complex conditions themselves.

The Children and Young People’s Wellbeing Team at Little Havens find many youngsters who have experienced the death of a sibling, parent, grandparent or anyone special to them often feel invisible, trying to process feelings that even adults don’t fully understand.

Art and creative therapy are valuable tools to help children express thoughts and feelings that can be too hard to verbalise. Creative techniques like painting, drawing and poetry open up conversations with children and often evoke memories of their loved ones who have died.

Katherine Barrett, a Children’s and Young Person Counsellor at the charity, says, “It is an incredible opportunity to showcase the amazing work of our young people and to raise awareness in the local community about views and experiences of complex conditions, loss and grief for young people, which can often be overlooked.”

Little Havens provides specialist care and support for babies, children, and young people in Essex and the surrounding boroughs who live with complex or incurable conditions.

Picture: Oliver with his artwork at the 2024 Leigh Art Trail

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