Last week the Lord Lieutenant of County Durham visited Greenfield, taking a tour of the school, meeting our Future Business Magnates, and recording an interview for “Radio 4 Success” as part of her tour. The Lord Lieutenant also led the ribbon cutting ceremony for the grand opening of “Nalu” a new outdoor installation at Greenfield Arts designed and built by volunteers as part of the “Hands On” project.
Te project provided oppor-tunities for men funded by East Durham Trust and NHS as part of their larger “Cree” programme, which is concerned with the Mental Well Being of men in County Durham. At Greenfield Arts our project asked men to volunteer their time, experience and skills to design and build an outdoor area, in a previously under used area of the centre grounds.
Starting in September 2012 we attracted a group of men from the local community who came to together to discuss their ideas and make plans. The group experienced stone carving at “The Stone Festival” at the Bowes Museum and later participated in a workshop with artist Ewan Allinson continuing to develop their stone carving skills.
The men decided they wanted the area to be built using natural materials and sourced a large quantity of bamboo as the main material. They then designed the structure using curves and different heights to create “The wave.” A scale model of the area was made and added to, then used as a reference point during construction.
In January 2013 the men started construction, including burying a time capsule put together by Greenfield Community College. Despite extreme weather conditions work continued and this summer sees the completion of “Nalu: the wave.”
Many men have volunteered their time over the past 9 months to bring the project from idea to completion. The structure is a credit to their dedication and hard work.
An outdoor area designed and built by volunteers as part of the “Hands On” Project at Greenfield opened by the Lord Lieutenant
