Founded in 2000, The Big Draw is a pioneering visual literacy charity dedicated to raising the profile of drawing as a tool for wellbeing, thought, creativity, social and cultural engagement. By aiming to get as many people drawing in as many different mediums as possible, they aim to promote diversity and inclusivity through the shared medium of art.

The theme of this year’s event was ‘Drawing with Senses’, and we spoke to Jennie from Outline Arts UK who was full of praise for the event and the difference that it makes for our patients. Jennie said:

“It’s wonderful to help encourage the children’s imagination. Every time that I come to do art activities at Alder Hey, I leave feeling that the kids have been teaching me, rather than me teaching them. It is so nice to give them a chance to forget about their day-to-day difficulties in hospital, and by participating in The Big Draw, we get to open this opportunity up to everyone by holding our event in the Atrium.

“We’ve had such fun taking part in themed activities based around all five senses, from encouraging the children to draw objects based only from touch, to drawing only what they can hear, it has been such a wonderful day and their drawings have been fantastic!”

The Big Draw has been brought to Alder Hey through our nationally renowned Arts for Health programme, who provide bespoke creative workshops and events for patients throughout the hospital. Arts Project Co-Ordinator, Katie O’Callaghan, said:

“Our exciting programme provides a diverse selection of creative activities for both in and outpatients to immerse themselves in. This week we had a focus on visual arts by collaborating with The Big Draw and basing our theme around “Drawing with Senses”. This theme has really enabled us to create accessible workshops that support all children’s learning, development and creativity on many levels.

We tailored sessions to be accessible to all abilities, and encouraged patients who may find art challenging or nerve wracking. We had activities in many formats allowing it to be accessible for patients who face barriers such as neurodiversity or other access needs. Our aim was for patients to feel a part of our art celebration and that the creativity was child led.

We invited everyone to express themselves by trying painting, drawing, crafting and talking to us about it too. Arts for Health loves to explore all art forms and engage with patients in new and innovative ways. Creativity is a wonderful way of bringing families together and connecting people through play, which is very important for both children and adults to continue to thrive.”

Thank you so much to everyone who came and joined us for The Big Draw down in the hospital atrium, it was wonderful to see so many talented young artists, all with happy, smiling faces!