The YoYo Club is in the Park
HELEN MURPHY talks to Tara Reddy about an exciting new project
Arts on Prescription was founded on the undeniable principle that artistic practice is good for your mental health and emotional wellbeing. Last year, the organisation took control of the old bowling green building in Alexandra Park and repurposed it as an arts space called Art in the Park. The driving force behind these developments has been, and still is, the remarkable Tara Reddy.
Tara has certainly not rested on her laurels. She explained that, since its inception, Art in the Park has created 1,440 places in its various workshops. The range of arts activities is quite breathtaking. There have been watercolour classes, life drawing, printmaking, pigment making, nature courses, creative writing and much more.
THE SURVEY SAYS
However, in the process of offering all these classes, Tara and her team of volunteers began to notice that some people, who desperately wanted to attend wellbeing classes,felt that they simply couldn’t attend on any sort of regular basis. She decided to carry out a survey in the community to find out both what was needed and which particular problems stood in the way. It emerged that a key problem for adults was finding and affording childcare. Single parents, for example, often do not have the cash for childcare and they may not have a supporting network around them. They find absolutely no time for themselves at all: an unhealthy situation.
Tara set out to address this evident obstacle. Her first step was to write to the Chalk Cliff Trust to seek some funding. She explained that they were “brilliant,” providing the necessary funds in a short time. As a result, Art in the Park has established the YoYo club, to begin on Tuesday 12 December and continue on subsequent Tuesdays. Tara says that the money enabled her to create a “skilled team to facilitate weekly family-friendly sessions”. The idea is to create “a safe space for both adults and children to be creative together.” This may mean working alongside each other or engaging in two separate activities. In short, adults who have been struggling to find creative room for themselves can bring their children with them. There is likely to be quite a demand for the YoYo club, so it is certainly advisable to book. It should be stressed that the classes are free, although any donations will be welcome.
RAISING FUNDS AND FUN
If Art in the Park has a very serious social purpose, Tara is always aware that people need fun. Fun is also therapeutic. This Christmas, Art in the Park is putting on a Christmas Fayre on 3 December with all manner of entertainments, replete with that most distinctive tincture of Christmas: spiced mulled wine. There will be arts and crafts stalls, and Linda, a finalist from The Great British Bake Off, will be serving up some festive bakes. There will also be what Tara has called a ‘Christmas Memory Tree’. (The tree has been kindly donated by Powdermill Wood.) In addition, the Salvation Army Band will give us seasonal tunes and there will be Christmas carols from His Place Community Choir.
What Tara and her team need most, however, is always likely to be funding. This year they are putting on a Winter Wonderland Snowflake Ball, as a fundraiser on 9 December at the Masonic Hall. There are some amazing entertainments promised, including, apparently, a visit from Elvis. As ever with Tara and her team, with all their various activities, you just have to doff your bobble hat in appreciation and amazement.
Tickets and bookings are available on eventbrite and details about the YoYo Club are to be found at [email protected].
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