The Weekly Wall | #002 | South West London Recovery College by Hospital Rooms

 Springfield University Hospital, Tooting

The next up in the series of weekly walls is a project that is fairly close to my heart. I’m a huge believer in art therapy and I like to think that colour can be a massive help to those going through tough times. Adding visual elements to a wall, door or ceiling can really engage people and encourage them to also let off steam via a creative outlet.

I discovered this building on a walk through the local area after moving to Earlsfield and I was immediately intrigued to know more about the burst of colour in the former Springfield Asylum. A quick search of the net established that it was, in fact, a collaboration between local charity Hospital Rooms and the South West London & St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust. The project mission was to transform the Recovery College at Springfield University Hospital, providing patients with a space to socialise, work and learn.

The Recovery College was the first of its kind in the UK and leads courses for students who have experienced a range of issues including self-harm, dementia, personality disorders, depression, eating disorders, schizophrenia, mood disorders, trauma or abuse. Artist and Hospital Rooms co-founders Tim A Shaw and Niamh White created the large scale mural for both the exterior and interior spaces of the college, and worked with Colart to programme a series of tailored art workshops for students – neat, huh?

Hospital Rooms is a mental health charity that believes in the enduring power of the arts to instill value, dignity and wellbeing in people. Their aim is to disrupt the barriers that limit access to art and culture for people using mental health services. While I don’t recommend scoping this one out in a pack (the patients need privacy and we stumbled upon it on a weekend), I do recommend keeping up to date with the folk on Instagram and supporting their cause!

Got a wall to share? Upload your imagery to Instagram with #theweeklywall and tag me so that I can share!