Children's Development Centre (CDC)
We know hospital settings can sometimes make people nervous - and the teams at the Children’s Development Centre in Peterborough wanted to do everything they could to reduce some of this potential worry for the children and young people they work with. The teams based at the City Care Centre on Thorpe Road, support children and young people with complex needs including autism, learning disabilities and developmental challenges - helping them to reach their potential and get the best possible start in life.
NHS staff at the Centre wanted to reduce some of the children’s anxiety around being in a hospital setting, by introducing creative and fun elements to their visit. In a collaborative project between Head to Toe Charity and local artist Nathan Murdoch, an incredible mural has been created to give the young people a focus whilst waiting for appointments.
Nathan’s street art will be recognisable to those who reside in Peterborough, with the artist previously attracting global attention for his arts against racism mural in the Millfield area of the city and his portrait of The Prodigy frontman, the late Keith Flint.
Kathy Lambourn, a Speech and Language Therapy Assistant at the Centre, who has helped organise the project, said: “As a team at the Child Development Centre, we felt that we wanted to create a more positive experience for the children and families who visit us, to help them feel relaxed and welcome. We feel they deserve an environment that is appealing with colourful, bright, interactive visual displays. This will help to distract and reduce their anxiety to help them relax prior to their appointment. We have been able to achieve this by securing a grant from Head to Toe Charity and are thankful for the wonderful artwork produced by local artist Nathan Murdoch from Street Arts Hire.”
Hannah Wysocki from Head to Toe, said: “The final results are stunning – we can’t thank Nathan, Adam and Street Arts Hire enough. The murals will not only brighten the day of young people and their parents, but also our teams who work at the centre. Our NHS staff continue to do remarkable work in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and Head to Toe is proud to continue to support their incredible efforts.”