Latest News - Winter 2020

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Latest News - Winter 2020

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Latest from St Ann's

The tender process for the development of St Ann's was due to complete in the summer and was delayed due to Covid, but we hope there could be an announcement from the GLA on the winning bidder any time now. We will of course update you as soon as we hear anything. In the meantime, StART's board of directors have been meeting online regularly over the past month to discuss how best we can reach out to people across the borough to build united action for when the developer is finally announced. Whoever it is, we will need to be vigilant to stop the developer trying to walk back the gains that StART has made over the past five years.

On the other side of the St Ann's site, the redevelopment of the hospital is well under way and Blossom Court, the new mental health inpatient building for Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust, opened to patients and staff in August 2020.

According to the Trust "the opening of Blossom Court means the old wards have now been replaced by brand new, state-of-the-art facilities, which are amongst the best in the country. The new facilities are already transforming the care of patients and the working conditions of staff." The old ward building is due to be refurbished by late 2022, while the housing development on the site is scheduled to begin in 2023.

British Library Profiles StART Member

The British Library has published a profile of StART member and founder of the StART Drawing Group, Viv Youell, for her lockdown artwork that adds soundwaves, sourced from British Library Sounds, to her illustrations of birds and animals.

Last year, Viv did amazing work in leading the drawing group on the St Ann's site, encouraging local people to focus on the many rare trees in the grounds. With the pandemic classes have been put on hold, and so Viv has turned her attention to other art projects including this mix of drawing and sound.

You can find out more by reading the full profile on The British Library website and see more of Viv's artwork on Twitter.

Friends of St. Ann’s Green Spaces 

A newly constituted Friends group for St. Ann’s Green Spaces has formed and had its inaugural meeting on Sunday 29th November.

The group aims to help ensure that the unique green spaces across St Ann’s Hospital site, particularly the trees and the woodland area along the railway (SINC), are conserved, cared for, and enhanced through long term, whole-site management. The group intends for the whole of St Ann’s Hospital site to become a showcase for environmental and sustainability principles across all aspects of landscape and build.

Friends of St. Ann’s Green Spaces is also working side by side with a newly formed group of hospital staff, Greener St Ann’s, and have overlapping membership.

Jyothi's Tree

In 2018 StART members planted a Rowan tree on the St Ann's site to commemorate the loss of a member and friend, Jyothi Pillay.
Those who remember her will do so fondly as someone with huge creative and generous energy, always ready to work with and for members of StART.
The photo below shows Jyothi's tree thriving with life, just before the autumn fall.
Rest in peace Jyothi: you will not be forgotten.