On behalf of the Friends of UCLH I am coordinated their participation in the 2011 Bloomsbury Festival . The Bloomsbury Festival is a cross-cultural event organised by Hidden Cities and supported by the Wellcome Trust, UCL, the School of Advanced Study, Camden Council, Bloomsbury Colleges, Arts Council England and The British Museum that seeks to highlight the richness and diversity of the Bloomsbury community.

We set out to underscore the importance of UCLH to the community of Bloomsbury and re-enforce links between the two. 

By participating we also aimed to showcase and raise awareness of the work undertaken by the Friends of UCLH inside of the hospital, with  particular emphasis on the role and activities of the Art Workshops funded by the Friends at the NHNN and other hospital sites.

And in the process we hope to raise funds for the Friends of UCLH by the sale of merchandise and work produced in the art workshops for the event.

We took as inspiration the work of the artists known as the Bloomsbury Group and the Omega Workshop who worked in the area almost 100 years ago and whose ethos was to decorate objects used in daily life with the creative visions of an artist rather than a designer.

We introduced the project to patients on the various wards where the Friends fund art workshops and had an enthusiastic response. The first project was for a competition for a design that was professionally printed on linen bags.

Our second project was the creation of designs for plates and mugs.

Our third project involved designing and painting a number of lampshades

The fourth project involved patients designs being transferred onto painted furniture

Aside from the Friends we have also received backing and support from Cosmo Ceramics, The John Lewis Partnership, Plan B Websites and Arts and Crafts Online