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Oxford project gives young patients a form of expressionMany thanks to everyone who contributed to our reader survey, it is a vital step as we try to improve our magazine. From your feedback we have already altered the way we present the What’s On section, but we will also be making changes to Societies News to make it more relevant. We would love to hear more about any project that has made an impact in your local community, and what the benefi ts were – both for the recipients and for the members who took part. Please send us your pictures as they help bring the story alive (see our image guidelines on page 65); we also welcome quotes from anyone who was involved.The changes do mean there will no longer be space for stories about Society visits, anniversaries or obituaries (apart from those of national importance), but we encourage Societies to include this information on their websites. For three months over the summer of 2016, many Tayside DFAS members joined 120 volunteers of all ages to become part of a ‘Poppy Partners’ team when The Black Watch Museum at Balhousie Castle in Perth hosted the beautiful sculpture Poppies - Weeping Window by Paul Cummings and Tom Piper, fi rst seen as one of the key elements of the installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red at the Tower of London in 2014. The Poppy Partners donned bright poppy-red shirts (and often rain jackets) to welcome over 120,000 visitors from across the world. One morning, an unassuming old gentleman in a wheelchair was helped to the front of the display and looked on in silence before slowly and with diffi culty raising himself from his chair to stand and salute fallen comrades. The team discovered later that he was a Victoria Cross recipient and Australia’s most decorated veteran.Above: ‘Poppy Partners’ (in red) welcomed visitors at Balhousie Castle over the summerChanges to Societies News Tayside members moved by their work as summer Poppy PartnersOxford DFAS Young Arts has helped youngsters with acute mental health needs express themselves through art. Becky Paton, a professional mosaic artist, was recruited to make a mosaic with the inpatients of the Highfi eld Unit of Warneford Hospital, Oxford. Over several weeks she helped youngsters aged 11–18 to take ownership of the design, based on a phoenix. “It was a both a joy and a privilege to work at the Highfi eld,” she commented. The project was coordinated through Artscape, which provides arts opportunities for mental health service users, their carers and trust staff. The Society paid nearly half the costs.Two exhibitions organised by Cumbria DFAS have highlighted the talents of over 60 A-Level and GCSE pupils from seven high schools in northern Cumbria. The exhibitions were staged between July and October at the Theatre By The Lake in Keswick. Local newspapers wrote articles praising the exhibition, helping to raise awareness of both the Cumbria exhibition reveals the faces of the new generationNorth Wiltshire reaches number 32!On Saturday October 8, the North Wiltshire DFAS Church Recording group presented the Record to the little church of St Peter, Blackland, which is on the eastern edge of Calne, where a small but thriving congregation keeps it in excellent order. The presentation was preceded by a talk on the history and workings of Church Recording by North Wiltshire DFAS Church Recording Group Leader Belinda Johnston (left, pictured below with Churchwarden Lucy Hemmings) as part of Calne Arts Festival. The Record is the 32nd completed by North Wiltshire DFAS.artworks and the Society, and the success could be measured by the comments book, with entries such as: “Staggering talent”, “Fantastic exhibition”. The students were awarded certifi cates and each school art department received a small donation for taking part. Above: A GCSE piece from the Cumbria DFAS exhibition, used on the theatre’s 2017 brochureSOCIETIES NEWS www.nadfas.org.uk NADFAS REVIEW / SPRING 2017 61