Celebrities join Oxford hospice charity campaign to support nurses

Actor Mark Gatiss holding his painting 'postbox', which will be up for auction on 16 May.

A host of celebrities have joined an art campaign that supports palliative care nurses.

Run by Sobell House Hospice Charity, the My Lovely Postcards project uses art from creatives and well-known figures to raise money in memory of an Oxford woman who died of bowel cancer.

Beth's Bursary Fund was set up in memory of Beth Foreman who died aged 32 in 2016.

Celebrities involved include Judi Dench and Mel Giedroyc.

The project has more than 180 original artworks, including those by well-known figures.

They will feature in an exhibition and be available to buy via an online auction.

"Sobell House were so wonderful to my friend Joanne Hope who died last year", said Dame Judi Dench who donated this painting to the project.

Veronica Brooks, who was a friend of Ms Foreman, said they wanted to "appropriately honour" the fashion design graduate's creativity, describing her as "such a lively, creative young woman".

The money raised will go towards helping to pay for additional skills training for specialist palliative nurses and palliative care staff.

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

Jonas Foreman, Beth's brother, said that the fund will help nurses access vital training courses that they would otherwise have to pay for themselves.

He said: "Whilst being at the hospice, we discovered how tough it is for nurses to access the training they want to do to develop.

"If we can increase the chance of someone else getting access to the kind of care that Beth got, then that is a small win for life in general."

Mary Walding, Lead Specialist Nurse for Palliative Care, at Sobell House Hospice Charity said there is "stiff competition" for funding.

British artist and colour expert Annie Sloan is one of the famous contributors to the project.

The exhibition will take place at St John the Evangelist Arts in Oxford on 20 and 21 May and from 24 to 28 May.

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