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Strategic plan artwork

The artwork for the Strategic Plan was created by members of an art therapy group run by Aftercare. The group created a combined piece that represents how they saw their best possible life, and the support they felt they needed to get there. 

The clock

The group chose the metaphor of a clock to illustrate this, with each participant contributing two hands to the group clock.

The individual hands and each artist’s reflections and hopes for the future are reproduced in the Strategic Plan to acknowledge and illustrate that people are at the centre of it.

The artists

Emily

It’s wrong to believe the only success for those who are ill is cure. We need to put value in improvement. It’s time to focus on improving the quality of life for those who are ill. Often we fight so hard just for survival but can't get beyond that to gain peace, happiness, a sense of achievement and belonging — the core of human desires. We desire to regain some power in our lives, to have choice over who we let in, to stay safe and respected, and to be given the tools to thrive not just survive.

Vanessa Buiskool

Calm and empowerment. These are my hands, traced with the group hand template, representing my personal choices and dreams for my best possible life. My best possible life is having the stability ‘to put down roots’. The key shapes represent the kind souls who have offered support along my journey.

Rosetta

Oh I wonder about the happy life where joy abounds in glory.

I ache to the feeling of sharing as deep as purity.

Where the physical is nothing, the eternal all of something.

And nothing tastes as sweet as the rain.

Angela Silver

For me, my artwork symbolises that the only way to move to where I want my life to be is forward. I think time is important, there is no time limit for recovery, and there is no right or wrong time. The art I have created means there is hope, there is a future. It expresses the hope I have. I have goals and dreams that I am working towards and this is a beautiful thing.

Ryan Whiting

My left hand represents that I have faith in my family and friends. The tree represents me growing in a happy and peaceful place from the help of everyone that is there for me when I need it.

My right hand shows a compass that is a guide to lead me to the right direction in my life. It helps lead me to the right path without losing my path of faith.

Sam Blackett

My artwork has many symbols and ideas representing my best possible life and how I plan on getting there. The motion of the grass and the flying bird under the changing weather symbolises progression and moving forward, as well as the colour and light I want in my life.

The budding flowers represent new growth and my desire to always be learning and bettering myself. The vine represents my support networks, and the spiritual eye conveys the calmness and tranquillity of the night. Finally the rainbow serpent denotes creation, both of the world and of my better life.