Once upon a time, shortly before lockdown, a fantastic creation started to take shape in the workshop of willow weaver Sarah Lart…
As part of our ‘The Girl Who Wouldn’t Give Up’ project we began planning an exciting event at Insole Court, with storytelling, creative writing, craft and the creation of a community artwork with Sarah Lart of Seren Willow – a sculpture of a willow girl, representing courage and persistence.
Sadly, Covid-19 arrived before the event could go ahead, and the framework for the willows sculpture has been waiting patiently for a new home throughout lockdown. And last week she finally found one! Helped by pupils, Sarah completed and installed the sculpture – reaching an impressive 8ft high! – in the wellbeing garden at Willows High.
We really enjoy a chance to work with Willows – pupils took part in The Girl Who Wouldn’t Give up back in 2019, and this year we received so many creative designs from both staff and pupils when we launched the Railway Gardens logo contest.
We are so grateful to the school for championing the Railway Gardens project and helping spread the word, and a member of staff sits on the project’s advisory group too.
It’s always a pleasure to see what everyone at the school has been up to, so we were delighted that Willows were able to offer a home to the the sculpture. It has been designed so that climbing plants can grow around the base and create a living skirt – we can wait to see what she looks like next year!
We also really love working with Sarah! She’s run lots of workshops for us in the past making things such as garden supports and lovely little willow fish. You can find out more about her work here.
