Forest’s inaugural charity art exhibition raises £850 for Haven House

Forest’s inaugural charity art and design exhibition has raised £850.00 for Haven House Children’s Hospice.

The exhibition, which took place last month, saw pupils, staff and friends of Forest submit pieces of art, which was then sold with 50% going to charity.

The event was a great success with over 80 pieces of work going on display by 53 artists, including pieces created by pupils as young as five.

Speaking about the exhibition, organiser and art teacher Mrs Sav Dhanjal explained: ‘The exhibition was inspired by a module from my Masters in art and design, which I recently completed at the Institute of Education. I wanted the exhibition to encourage and support a wide-range of artists to develop the confidence in exhibiting their artwork in a range of mediums and to be part of an art community.

‘The opening night was a great success, it was lovely to see all the artists come out and support one another. The exhibition was open for three days, but most the artwork was snapped up within the first hour!’

The exhibition featured a variety of work including a painting of a parrot by a Pre-Prep pupil, a photo of the sun rising across Forest taken by the Warden and a fairy garden created by another member of staff.

Following the exhibition, Mrs Dhanjal, Pre-Prep pupil Anna Wright and sixth former Halimah Ershad, who had all exhibited art, visited Haven House to deliver the cheque and learn more about the hospice’s extensive work.

The three toured the grounds and learnt more about how the money will help to support the hospice.

During the visit, Anna also kindly donated another piece for the hospice. Speaking about the School’s exhibition, Haven House’s community fundraiser Ginny Donnelly said: ‘This is a fantastic amount and will make a real difference to the lives of our children and families.

‘I am so pleased and just want to say a huge thank you to the Forest community for supporting Haven House.’