As well as practising conservation, participants will gain behind-the-scenes knowledge of how heritage collections are protected and cared for at London Metropolitan Archives. This is a completely new way of engaging people, who live with mental health, in heritage and creativity.
C4W uses original archives from St Luke’s Hospital in Islington, founded in 1751 to look after people with a mental illness. The hospital closed in 2011 and the archives were deposited at London Metropolitan Archives by Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust.
C4W is funded by City Bridge Trust and run by The Restoration Trust, in partnership with Icon, London Metropolitan Archives (LMA), St Mary Abbots Rehabilitation and Training (SMART) and with research support from University College London (UCL).
Meeting fortnightly from January to May, a group of 8 people from Kensington and Chelsea who are in contact with St Mary Abbots Rehabilitation and Training (SMART) will learn paper conservation skills from professional conservators. They will exhibit their work at LMA, SMART and other local venues.
Icon supports high quality conservation outcomes for C4W through the involvement of Icon accredited members Helen Lindsay ACR the C4W Coordinator and Caroline De Stefini ACR the C4W Conservation Lead and LMA Studio Manager.
For more information about Conservation for Wellbeing contact the Project Manager, Laura Drysdale: [email protected] | 07740844883
