An Art Auction is to be held at THG to raise funds for the Honiton Memory Café, Honiton Hospital League of Friends and the THG Learning Programme. It will be an exciting opportunity to purchase the finest work from up-and-coming artists as well as prominent names such as Alan Cotton and Irene Jones.

Date : Friday 25 April 2014 at 7pm (doors open at 6pm)

Auction Patron : Alan Cotton

Auctioneers : Chilcotts

The works will be displayed upstairs at THG from Saturday 15 March - Saturday 19 April. Silent bids can be taken throughout the exhibition period at THG or online at Chilcotts. There are no reserves on the artworks.

Why we are doing this?

In Honiton two voluntary organisations (Honiton Memory Café and theHoniton Hospital League of Friends) and the Thelma Hulbert Gallery Learning Programme are working together to increase awareness and understanding of dementia through this exciting community initiative.  

Honiton Memory Café provides a safe social space for people experiencing the challenges of memory loss and their carers to talk, share experiences and relax in each other’s company. The Café also provides resources, a connection with vital services and a range of social activities with the specific aim of supporting people to live an active life within their own community.  As one of East Devon’s leading Memory Cafés the experienced volunteers at Honiton have big ambitions to extend their service by offering weekend breaks, specialist couple counselling and much more if given the resources to work with. Youtube clip

It is sometimes necessary for someone living with dementia to have to spend time in hospital. The League of Friends of Honiton Hospital provides an important link between the hospital and the community it serves and is working hard to help make their hospital “dementia friendly”.  They have recently provided 20 high visibility calendar clocks for the medical ward and are currently fundraising to provide TV and radio sets for every bed rather than just one to a ward.  They would like to be able to train all volunteers as “Dementia Friends” and to offer a specialist befriending service for those patients who would benefit from it.

Thelma Hulbert Gallery (THG) is East Devon’s only public art gallery. THG provides high quality, award-winning*, art-based learning for the community including free workshops for young people, families, schools and older people. The THG community engagement and education programme is supported by charitable grants and funds. 

A new programme for dementia sufferers and their carers -in partnership with Honiton Memory Café- will provide opportunities to learn new skills using different art forms and techniques. It will also help them to gain confidence in making their own artwork inspired by the gallery’s programme of innovative art exhibitions, engage with other people and create new friendships in a safe environment and enjoy a welcome respite from every day life.

*THG’s gallery curator won the ‘2012 Marsh Award for Excellence in Gallery Education’ from Engage, the National Association for Gallery Education.