Sheffield Girls’ joins Sheffield ARTogether project

Sheffield Girls’ Supports Cavendish Cancer Care Sheffield ARTogether Project

Cavendish Cancer Care is a Sheffield-based charity, supporting families in South Yorkshire, North Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. They support anyone who is affected by a cancer diagnosis, including carers, loved ones and children as well as the patients themselves. Despite seeing over 1,900 families in 2019, the charity only receives enough government funding to keep its doors open for two weeks a year. This means they rely almost entirely on the support and generosity of the public to keep their service running.

This autumn they launched a new creative fundraising campaign, with the aim to celebrate everything Sheffield has to offer and bring together the community. Throughout lockdown we have all had more time to appreciate our local surroundings so Cavendish wanted to see what you love most about the city of Sheffield!

Cavendish Cancer Care approached Sheffield High School for Girls to get involved and introduced an art project for the girls to complete as a fundraising challenge. Over 50 pieces of artwork were submitted across all year groups from KS1 through to Year 12 and showcased what they love about Sheffield. We saw drawings, paintings, photographs and mixed medium artwork, which included depictions of The Big Wheel on Fargate, both the Winter and Botanical Gardens, and The Crucible, plus some beautiful landscapes of the city. Awarded first place was ‘Sheffield Meadows’, a beautiful multi-medium piece of art by Aayna in Year 4. Closely followed by two fantastic pieces by Alice in Year 7 and Ziqi in Year 1.

Mrs Puddephatt, Art Leader of Sheffield Girls School, says, “Our girls love to help others and to get creative, so ARTogether was right up their street! Their enthusiasm for the project and the standard of their finished artwork was really impressive. What shone through in every piece was the fondness the girls felt for their home city, the power of art to bring people together and their genuine eagerness to support Cavendish Cancer Care.  It has been a thoroughly rewarding experience for us all.”

Emma Draper, a parent at the School and Chief Executive of Cavendish Cancer Care is thrilled with the girls’ involvement in the project and says, “It has been fantastic to engage with the girls in such a creative way. The artwork really showcases Sheffield and what they love about the city. Through their fundraising they have also contributed to supporting the families we care for who are affected by cancer, who need our support more than ever at the moment.”

When restrictions allow, Cavendish Cancer Care and Sheffield Girls’ hope to share the artwork through an exhibition at the Tim Pryor Centre, home of Cavendish Cancer Care.