Wildlife Workshop at St Peter’s

It is a glorious sunny afternoon in the churchyard – a parishioner arranges flowers on a family grave in readiness for Easter, the hum of bees seems to drown out the sound of passing traffic and a group of children move quietly amongst the gravestones reading inscriptions and studying the new leaves that are springing from winter branches. A number go to the hedge to see if the beech whips they planted in the autumn have survived the snow and the appetites of the horses in the adjoining field. Three young girls sit together on the grass, heads bent over their sketch pads. Earlier they had been in the cool of the church to copy images from the stained glass windows. For some, used to coming into St Peter’s after Children’s Church on Sundays, the very familiar interior is being looked at with new eyes. The dozen children along with Julie Turner from The Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, Heather Sims from Wellesbourne in Bloom and some parents and helpers are here at a workshop being run by the sculptor Andrew Mckeown. As part of the project that has won National Lottery funding and has already seen the construction of a new wildlife path that offers a safer alternative for children and wheelchair users to the main drive, Andrew Mckeown has been commissioned to create a sculpture and a screen for the grounds of the Church Centre.

A graduate of Coventry University, Andrew specialises in community sculptures with natural and organic themes. Although he lives and works in the NE, he believes in the involvement of local people and schoolchildren and so consultations and practical workshops take him around the country. This workshop begins with a short presentation explaining how his ideas start as images taken from the natural world and are then processed into large sculptures often in cast iron which are allowed to weather naturally. The children are interested and excited that perhaps one of their ideas might be used in the final sculptures especially when they see how a schoolgirl’s drawing of a falling sycamore seed inspired the huge and striking ‘Seed’ which now stands in St Phillip’s Square in Salford. With this in mind they set out to explore the churchyard returning later to the hall to draw up their ideas in more detail. ‘Nature's stained glass window’ is a possible theme for the screen - to echo the panes in the church windows, and one of the children’s drawings of a spider’s web seems an inspired replica.

A break for drinks and cakes is followed by a final chance to rework their ideas this time in clay outside in the shady courtyard. Several leaves, caterpillars and dragonflies immerge which the children can take home. The next excitement is waiting to see if they can spot any of their own ideas in the final sculptures when they are installed in the Church Centre grounds.

For examples of Andrew Mckeown’s work go to www.andrewmckeown.com

AM

Back & 4th Transport

Back & 4th Transport is a community transport scheme based at Warwick University Campus (HRI), Wellesbourne, and provides minibus hire for residents of Stratford upon Avon District. If your community group is looking for transport why not give us a ring to see if we can help?

We need office volunteers to assist with the scheduling for Warwick Health Transport Scheme which provides volunteer drivers to transport elderly residents to medical appointments.

This help is required between 10am and 1pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and could be split so a different person covers each day. If you have some spare time and would like to help, please contact us on 01789 471595.

We are always looking for volunteer drivers to take our passengers out and about in the local area and further afield so if you have some time to spare and are interested in joining our team please give us a call.

The photo is of one of our volunteers taking a lady out to her luncheon club.

Kineton Art Group