Patients, families and NHS staff in Horatio’s Garden London & South East recently enjoyed a glass fusing workshop, kindly run by glass artist Suzanne Raffellini.
The session focused on making fused glass suncatchers. Patients learned how to use glass breaking tools, before combining pieces of glass into stunning suncatchers, playing with colour and shape to produce their final artistic pieces.
The session was run as part of the Horatio’s Garden Arts Programme, which launched across the gardens in 2021. Research conducted by Horatio’s Garden has shown the benefits of artistic activities for people with spinal injuries. When surveyed, 97% of patients reported finding a distraction from pain when taking part in the programme, while a further 92% found that their hand or arm movements were strengthened or refined as a result.
The Arts Programme also benefits the families of the garden’s beneficiaries. Suzanne’s glass fusing workshop was attended by many family members, creating a fun and creative environment for loved ones to come together. One father taking part summed up the session by saying they were “creating memories“.
Reflecting on the workshop afterwards, Suzanne said: “I spent a wonderful afternoon today full of joy and laughter at the incredible Horatio’s Garden at Stanmore Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. Time away from the ward, spent doing something completely different, learning something new, focusing the brain on using the hands rather than racing thoughts is, as one patient put it, healing. The patients thoroughly enjoyed the activity and I feel privileged to have been able to help. I’ll be returning again soon.”
If you would like to support our Arts Programme, or any of our stunning therapeutic gardens, please consider making a donation here.
