6 October 2011

The power of poetry will be used to entertain sick children when award-winning writer Lemn Sissay MBE performs at The Royal London Children’s Hospital on National Poetry Day this Thursday 6 October.

Millions of people across the UK will engage with poetry through a range of live events and poetry competitions.

Lemn, who has been working with young patients over the past six weeks in his role as poet-in-residence at The Royal London Children’s Hospital, will give a special recital to mark the day.

Lemn from Clapton in East London is the first commissioned poet for the London Olympics and chose to work with the Royal London Hospital because he believes in the healing power of creativity.

He said: “In my own life and many others, creativity helps the healing process and I wanted to share how reading and writing poetry can be both rewarding and helpful.

“Poetry is everywhere in life, even inside get well soon cards, but working with children in a hospital setting to create it has been an unreal experience.

“The children have blown me away with their creations. Their imagery has been original, their stories fascinating and I think part of this is because they are cooped up inside a ward and their imaginations are desperate to run free – whereas the body has its limitations the imagination is limitless.”
 
On Thursday Lemn will perform a range of original poems he wrote himself before leading a poetry workshop for young patients.

Lemn was appointed hospital’s Poet In Residence by Vital Arts – the arts organisation for Barts and The London NHS Trust, charitably funded to deliver art programmes to enhance the well-being of patients, staff and the wider hospital community.   

Vital Arts project manager Rachel Louis said:  “Poetry can instantly transport people to another place or time and is a brilliant distraction that allows patients to focus on something positive instead of their illness.  

“Numerous studies suggest that art interventions can reduce pain and anxiety levels and help speed patient recovery times. Lemn’s workshops aim to improve the hospital experience for patients.

Poems written by youngsters attending Lemn’s workshops will be posted across the new Royal London Children’s Hospital when it opens next February. Lemn will work with internationally acclaimed graphic designer Morag Myerscough to bring ward spaces to life with children's words and poems.

Notes to editors

Lemn Sissay
Lemn Sissay MBE is an award-winning British author and broadcaster who has read his poetry on stages throughout the world. He was born in 1967 of Ethiopian parents. Fostered as a baby, he was sent to a children's home at 11. His first collection of poetry was published when he was 20, and his plays have been produced by Contact Theatre and Radio 4. Sissay was recently writer in residence at the South Bank Centre and he is the first poet to have been commissioned for the London Olympics. Sissay was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours.

Royal London Children’s Hospital
The Children’s Hospital will move to its new home in February 2012 as part of the brand new Royal London Hospital. Its state of the art facilities will include dedicated theatre suites, an outdoor rooftop garden and London’s biggest paediatric Accident & Emergency department. The hospital is one of the leading children’s hospitals in the UK and treats 40,000 children and young people each year from London, Essex and across the UK and Europe.

Vital Arts
Vital Arts is the arts organisation for Barts and The London NHS Trust, charitably funded to deliver arts projects for the well-being of patients, staff and the wider hospital community. Collaboration and participation are at the heart of its work. Over 700,000 people attend Barts, London Chest and The Royal London Hospital every year, looked after by 8,000 members of staff. The charity sees these buildings as ideal places to introduce a new audience to the transformative power of art.

Vital Arts was founded in 1996 and has grown into one of the UK’s leading arts and health organisations, with an international reputation for producing pioneering arts programmes that transform the experience of being in hospital for patients and staff.

They commission artists, musicians and performers to help improve the hospital environment for patients. They manage two art galleries which ‘bring the outside in,' and an extensive contemporary art collection. They forge links with the hospital community through a diverse programme of artists’ residencies, public art commissions and arts education projects.
For more information and ways to support Vital Arts visit: www.vitalarts.org.uk