A children’s art competition, supported by CHP to promote key health prevention messages, has resulted in 10 outstanding pieces of art which will be displayed at Hornsey Central Neighbourhood Health Centre, London.
The competition, run by CHP alongside North London Estates Partnerships (NLEP), gbpartnerships and St Mary’s Church of England Primary School, began with a brief to the Primary School to promote the message that healthy living habits start from a young age. It aimed to highlight the statistic that social determinants of health account for approximately 80% of population health outcomes. The role of healthy eating, social interaction and community engagement make up a large part of this.
As part of the ‘left shift’, the government are looking to focus on early prevention, which is vital to long-term health. Through a proactive approach focused on preventing illness and promoting well-being, long term health outcomes will improve. The move involves shifting resources and focus from treating illnesses in hospitals to providing preventative care and support in community and primary care settings, such as Hornsey Central Neighbourhood Health Centre. It’s about addressing the root causes of ill health and empowering individuals to stay healthy for longer.
Children from the school, aged between four and nine, were invited to interpret this theme through a range of artistic outputs with the help of the art department and the winning designs will be placed on the wall of the health centre. Prizes for the winners have been paid for by LIFTCo partners, gbpartnerships. Some of the art is currently in situ within the memorial building on site at the Health Centre.
The pieces were judged across five categories: Handprints exploring friendships, sound waves exploring conversations, sharing food or activities together, healthy eating choices and cubist style portraits.
With over 200 entries, winners were chosen on how well the artwork expressed the topic given with 26 children shortlisted in these categories.
Community is at the heart of all we do at CHP; our buildings are designed to be hubs within their neighbourhoods. The opportunity to engage with, and support, the health habits of local schoolchildren in this way has been extremely rewarding. Projects like this art competition also relate to the Government’s ideas regarding prevention; the earlier we can explore healthy living messages with children, the better. It has been exciting to support this project alongside St Mary’s School and our LIFTCo partners, I can’t wait to see the work displayed within the building.
Outreach activities like this are incredibly important for the local communities our Health Centres serve. It was fantastic to see so many children take part in the competition. The winning artwork will bring so much joy to the waiting area at Hornsey Neighbourhood Health Centre, and we're thrilled that NLEP can fund the prizes for these talented young artists as well as the printing of their wonderful creations
CHP are proud to be able to support this project and look forward to seeing the artwork within the building soon. Our buildings are designed to be hubs within their neighbourhood, and it is projects like this reinforce our commitment to creating vibrant, modern spaces at the heart of the community.
Find out more about Buildings at the Heart of the Community
CHP’s Buildings at the Heart of the Community initiative aims to encourage local community groups and charities to make the most of our buildings by enabling the use of space in our centres to host health and wellbeing related events.
