Bingley Island Canterbury – Kent Young Carers

Artist Amanda Thesiger led a group of Canterbury District’s (Canterbury, Herne Bay and Whitstable) Young Carers aged 11 to 16, for our second Young Carers session – under the willows at Bingley Island, a tiny nature reserve near the Tannery Fields area of Westgate Parks Canterbury.

The group spotted waterfowl, fish and an eel – in the Stour, damselflies above, listened to woodpeckers, and foraged for a little purple loosestrife, rosebay willow herb, convolvulus, burdock and giant hogweed, to paint and draw and inspire the little books they created.

“This activity was designed to be a process of discovery, in different ways. Before we started our walk to the nature reserve, I asked the group to collect some things on the way. The things to collect were – three things that they noticed – seen, heard and felt – on their walk. Inspired by these, and the found and seen natural treasures in the gardens, as well as those the artist brought, the group created mixed media A3 sized drawings, using watercolours, natural inks, pastels, pencils, letter stampers, and felt pens. These drawings developed over time and began to include things directly foraged by the group, and then the things they had seen, such as the river waterfowl and fish – and an eel in the Stour, damselflies, and woodpeckers. Some used a little purple loosestrife, rosebay willow herb, convolvulus, burdock and giant hogweed, to paint and draw and inspire the little books we made. The A3 drawings gathered a wide range of nature observations, thoughts and feelings. These drawings were then transformed through simple folding, into little books, which had 8 distinct panels, each containing fragments of the larger drawing. These panels were then worked into.”  Amanda

‘Fun – really creative – being outside makes a big difference – recognising the plants was very good – I loved what I made – nice to get out into scenery – using natural inks for the first time was interesting’  Participant

This series of activities is supported by the Imago Charity and their incredible work with young carers across Kent, funded by the Kent Community Foundation.