Message from Gaynor
Having been born in Eltham and spent my 70 years around the local area (the last 34 in Greenholm Road) it is hard to say goodbye! John and I have a new adventure ahead as we move to Brighton on 29th May!
The last seven years have been a roller coaster. Organising the Celebrate Eltham In Verse community poetry competition in 2012, leading to the book launch and the founding of Eltham Arts in 2013 has been quite an experience. The aim of connecting the community through the arts, as I am reminded by everyone, has been a huge success. With creative community challenges for creative writing (Tales of Eltham and Writing on a Wall), Eltham Postcards and the Song Challenges (Aspects of Winter, A Plateful of Songs, Songs Across a Wall) Eltham Arts provided a vehicle to inspire creativity in SE9.
The Eltham Arts Winter Festivals brought Eltham and SE9 alive with 23 days of art, music, dance and theatre with 120 events the first year and over 150 the following year! All provided by the community and for the community. We brought music to the streets in Passey Place in our Eltham Music Festivals and July became Eltham Music Month. We worked with the Local Police to Organise the Eltham Park Festival and Age UK to Yarn Bomb the local area! The WALL project was an outstanding success with more than 2000 people of all ages and backgrounds involved in making bricks and art installations, writing songs, short stories and poems. I have loved working with the local schools and our heritage buildings.
I have been pleased to support local groups and organisations through our Eltham Arts social media, celebrating and attending events and the five years of being a ‘Life in Eltham’ columnist for the Greenwich Visitor.
Championing Eltham has not been without its personal challenges, as many of you know, but I hope that a legacy is left, and I have many happy memories of times here!
I could not have done this without the involvement, love and support of my Eltham Arts team, who have worked so hard (and I am sure will continue to work hard) in establishing Eltham Arts and working with the community.
Thank you everyone! I will miss you all, but I am sure John and I will be back from time to time! You can take a girl out of Eltham, but not Eltham out of a girl! It’s a great vibrant community with talent and commitment.
So farewell and good luck to our Eltham Arts network! Be proud and creative!
Love and best wishes
Gaynor
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