We believe in the power of the arts to improve the quality and well-being of life. We know from research that the quality of a patient’s environment can have an impact on their recovery. We aim to provide environments and experiences for our patients, families and staff which support the healing process. This residency offers a period of time for an artist or group/organisation to research the environment of Blyth Community Hospital, to spend quality time in participatory work with patients, family and staff in order to create a lasting artwork or arts resource for the centre. This project is led and funded by Queens Hall Arts and BVAL and greatly supported and evaluated by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Queens Hall Arts, Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure and the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust would like to commission an artist or arts organisation to run a  participatory programme of workshops with the aim to develop a final art work or arts resource for the Blyth Community Hospital.

Blyth Community Hospital is located in Blyth town centre, south east Northumberland. The
hospital has 78 beds and 3 wards, two of which are geriatric rehabilitation and the third which is geriatric rehabilitation and palliative care. Physiotherapy therapy clinics are held daily Monday to Friday.
There is an outpatient clinic holding clinics including rheumatology, gynecology, Parkinson's
disease, cardiology, orthopedics. There is also an x-ray department with an ultrasound facility and a district nurse-led clinic.  

The working group would like to use the creative arts to enhance the physical, environment and day to day activity for the well-being and health of the residents, families, staff and visitors of the centre.

The project aims to

· improve the quality and well-being of the patience, families and staff lives within the centre

· improve older people’s access to the arts

· help alleviate the fears and concerns of patients and their families

· softening clinical environments

· enhancing patient care and aiding recovering

· where possible integrate the hospital into the local community

· celebrate the rich and diverse lives and stories of the patience, centre and the surrounding
community

This project is funded with a total budget of £2,000.

For more details about this post and application process contact jburke@bval.co.uk  All
applications must be received by 5.00pm on April 21^st 2013.

Exhibition Coordinator & Curator Post, EXHIBIT HERE!

Part time, 20 days work at £20,000pro rata

The Exhibition Coordinator & Curator post will develop, manage and implement a pilot touring system for exhibitions between the three community Hospitals in the South East
Northumberland area and the two main BVAL Leisure Centres at Blyth and Cramlington.

For more details about this post and application process contact jburke@bval.co.uk  All
applications must be received by 5.00pm on April 21^st 2013.

We believe in the power of the arts to improve the quality and well-being of life. Within the care sector we know from research that the quality of a patient’s environment can have an
impact on their recovery. We aim to provide environments and experiences for our clients,
patients, families and staff which support the healing process; improve environments and
ambience; as well as
improving access to art; and the celebration and showcasing of art work.

This project is led and funded by Queens Hall Arts and BVAL and greatly supported and
evaluated by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.