"It appears increasingly rare for children to experience the pleasure of ‘immersion’ in a creative project and Linda was able to offer the possibility of this experience to all the children, time and time again" said class teacher Linnea Strand at St Michael on the Mount primary school, Bristol. Children there have been helping to create an external artwork for a façade of the new Bristol Heart Institute, as part of the arts programme managed by Willis Newson. (More information on the Above and Beyond website.) Artist Linda Schwab worked with Year 3 children to generate designs based on a series of large-scale columns filled with stencilled patterns. The patterns will be created from rubbings the children have made of tree bark, cobbles and signs. The designs are displayed on the site hoardings ahead of the final artwork, due to be completed by the end of September.

The benefits of participation will be explored by four artists appointed to deliver a six-month participatory arts programme at Callington Road Hospital for Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. The project, managed by Willis Newson, is funded by Tesco and will be evaluated by the University of the West of England.

Justin Fellows will be working with music, Sue Mayfield with words and Siobhan McElroy with visual arts. Elizabeth-Jane Grose will be reflecting on all three residencies and bringing them together into a showcase event early next year.

The benefits of participation have been proven through studies such as the 2008 evaluation of the Moving On project and the 2001 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital research by Dr Rosalia Staricoff, which found that the length of stay of patients on trauma and orthopaedic wards was reduced and their need for pain relief was significantly less when they experienced visual arts and live music. This project aims to explore the benefits in a mental health context.

The first of five art commissions has been completed by artist Judy Foote. 16 internal windows in the entrance rotunda of Stoke Mandeville Hospital’s Wendover Wing have been enhanced with specially designed window vinyl.

Wendover Wing is a new PFI building which is bright and fresh, but lacks a sense of place. The vinyl artwork has been developed to foster identity, interest and focus within the new building, helping to make it feel more welcoming and interesting.

The windows are in a circle which suggested the idea of cycles found in nature: seasons, movement of the sun, the life cycles of plants. The design moves from a calmness to intensity twice through the length of the windows, reflecting the ebb and flow of these core ideas.

More than 60 artists, commissioners, clients, friends and well-wishers joined us to celebrate the move into our new Portland Square offices earlier this month.

“It was great to christen our new space with champagne, music and the blessing of friends,” said Willis Newson Director, Jane Willis. “There was a genuine air of celebration and support, which has helped cement the move to our new base.”

“Whilst clearing out files during the actual move I found a piece of paper with the budget for the start up costs when I set up the business seven years ago. It came to £136 for a desk, chair and filing cabinet (all second-hand of course)! I am delighted at how far we have come since then and look forward to seeing our work develop and grow over the coming years.”