A spectacular art installation featuring hundreds of doves made from plastic milk bottles is sending out a message of hope from a care home.
They have been crafted by the art class members at the Pendine Park care organisation in Wrexham who also wanted to highlight the importance of recycling.
The delightful arc of doves now adorns the trees near the entrance to Pendine’s site in Summerhill Road.
There are 448 doves in total, one for each of the residents being cared for at the organisation’s three sites in Wrexham and Caernarfon.
The project was completed in time for Recycle Week 2020 helping celebrate the organisation’s commitment towards recycling.
It was masterminded by artist-in-residence Sarah Edwards who is celebrating 25 years of working with Pendine this year.
Sarah said: “It’s a project about hope which is particularly important during the Covid-19 pandemic but it’s also about the importance of recycling plastics.
“The project involved collecting used plastic milk cartons, applying imagination to make them look like doves and wiring them so they could be hung from the trees.
“Part of the reason for doing this was because of Recycle Week, I wanted to make sure the doves were ready for then.
“It has also been about getting creative, keeping everybody busy, and having a focus. We now have this wonderful end result.
“I am really proud of all of the residents that took part. Everyone in the art class has made a valuable contribution as did the teams from each of our other homes, who collected milk cartons for us.
“We even had help from friends and family. It was a real community endeavour. The effort everyone has made has been phenomenal we’ve worked brilliantly together as a team to make sure we finished the project on time.
Bryn Bella resident Sian Ferrier, 49, was one of the art class members who spent several weeks turning the bottles into doves.
“Making the doves has been a good thing to focus on and help take your mind off lockdown,” said Sian, a resident with Pendine Park for eight years.
“The doves show we are thinking of the other residents. We’ve only been able to see the people in our particular home and not mix with the residents from the other homes here.
“We have really enjoyed doing it. It is just nice to be able to show we are thinking of the other residents.
“There’s been a lot of fun and banter while making the doves.”
She joined her friends Tracey Wilde and Jenny Plumb to admire the doves now festooning the trees, with the trio having all been involved in the project.
Tracey, who enjoys taking part in art projects at Pendine Park, said: “It’s nice to look at the doves on the trees.
“It has been good to be involved in making them. We’ve enjoyed it.”
Jenny, who has lived at Bryn Bella for the past year, said: “I wasn’t originally going to join the art class, but I’m glad I did. I have worked with Sian in making the doves and we’ve had fun.
“It looks really good. We have wanted to show we are thinking of the other residents.”
The residents worked closely with Pendine Park’s artist in residence, Sarah Edwards, to create the plastic doves.
“We are lucky to have such a good art teacher,” said Sian. “She has such vision.
“Sarah thinks of projects time after time. I don’t know how she keeps coming up with ideas over and over again.
“She spends time with all of us. If we can’t do something, she will find a way so we can.”
Making a positive use out of the empty bottles has helped reaffirm Pendine Park’s commitment to recycling.
Facilities manager Julie Wood said: “Our internal waste policy is to segregate our pure recycle items at source, such as cardboard and paper.
“Then our general waste undergoes a sophisticated process by our appointed waste specialist company. A high percentage of our waste is then able to be recycled into an array of raw compounds.
“We place our contracts carefully, carrying out due diligence and only working with accredited partners that hold all the relevant standards.”
The theme of this year’s Recycle Week is ‘Together – We Recycle’. Event organisers have said they want the week to celebrate the UK’s commitment towards recycling in recent months, despite the challenges posed by the impact of COVID-19.
