Lime is currently delivering a unique project to create an Organ Donor Recognition Artwork to be located on the Oxford Road Campus Boulevard. The artwork is being developed in collaboration with bereaved families, Lime and the specialist Organ Donor Team at the Manchester Royal Infirmary.

Local artists Stephen Raw and Liam Curtin are leading the project, developing an artwork that will incorporate a poem created by Professor John McAuliffe from the University of Manchester. The poem has been inspired through close consultation with our bereaved organ donor family group and will be translated into a ceramic artwork that we hope to integrate and weave into the Boulevard located at the Oxford Road Campus.

Working with the bereaved family group has been a vital part of this project and they have formed the core of the whole artistic process.  On Saturday 22nd October, we all came together at RHS Worsley for a private tour around the gardens, thinking about sensory responses to colours, scents and textures, the day also allowed us to bring together bereaved families and recipient families for the first time . One bereaved parent commented;

“Without the organ donor, there is no story, no hope, no transplant. But when there is an organ donor, life springs from death, sorrow turns to hope and a terrible loss becomes the greatest gift.….This project is helping me to heal and process my grief in a positive way. I would recommend the power of creative projects to all and especially to support bereaved families.”

The arts project clinical lead Dr. Jonathan Bannard-Smith, Consultant Critical Care & Anaesthesia also commented:

“Having been involved in organ donation and transplantation at the trust for nearly ten years, I’m honoured to be involved in a creative project that pays great admiration, respect and gratitude to our patients who kindly donate their organs at the end of their lives. It has been wonderous to see the strength of donor families and transplant recipients, the creative talent of artists and poets all channelled through the artistic direction and project management delivered by Lime.”

Lime lead artists will continue to  consult further with organ donor families, recipients and organ donor staff as we begin to see this special recognition artwork take shape.