Sobell House Hospice postcard art to raise funds for nurses

Budding and professional artists have submitted postcard-sized artworks to the project

The family of a woman who died of bowel cancer have worked with the hospice where she was cared for to set up a community art project in her memory.

Sobell House, based on the Churchill Hospital site in Oxford, has invited budding and professional artists to submit postcard-sized artworks.

Beth Foreman died aged 32 in 2016. Her brother Guy said the family wanted to give back to those who helped her.

The postcards will be sold via an art exhibition and auction.

The project is in aid of Beth's Bursary Fund, which supports palliative care nurses with further training and education. To date the fund has raised almost £60,000.

Ms Foreman grew up in Watlington and had a degree in fashion design.

The community art project is raising money for Beth's Bursary Fund, set up in memory of Beth Foreman

Mr Foreman said: "It was obviously an incredibly painful and very difficult situation for us to cope with, particularly as it happened so quickly and she was so young.

"But the care at Sobell and the John Radcliffe Hospital was just fantastic. The nurses at Sobell in particular; it was their bedside manner and ability to empathise with Beth."

He added: "We wanted to help palliative care nurses to carry on their supportive and vital work, making people's last time much less painful, not just physically but emotionally."

The initiative's name - My Lovely Postcards - was partly inspired by the term Ms Foreman's father Neil used for her - "my lovely".

Family friend Veronica Brooks, who was also involved in setting up the project, described her as a "lively, creative young woman".

The exhibition and online auction will take place at St John the Evangelist Arts on Iffley Road, Oxford, in the Cloister Gallery from 20 to 28 May.

In the meantime here are some of the submissions that have been sent so far...

"My husband was at Sobell House for two weeks before he came home to die. I am and will always be thankful for the support we had." Artwork by Gurli Andreassen

"Sobell House was an amazing support to both my mother and father-in-law... this is a lovely way to give something back to help them." Artwork by Claire Cristiansen

"My dad received excellent palliative care at the end of this life, so the training provided by Beth's Bursary Fund is something I fully support." Artwork by Hannah Vickery

"My mother spent her last days in a hospice. I would like to help Sobell House." Artwork by Margaret Cox

"I rarely sell my paintings but I enjoy donating them to good causes. Sobell House helped the family of a friend of mine a few years ago." Artwork by Sandra Wattley

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