Patients at Nottinghamshire Hospice have been putting their brush strokes onto a five-foot robin sculpture set to take pride of place in Nottingham’s prestigious Hoodwinked sculpture trail this summer.

Community visual artist Jess Kemp has been working with more than 40 patients in the Day Therapy unit to develop their design ideas and paint the sculpture.

She has used their suggestions to draw up a patchwork idea containing sunflowers, forget-me-nots and hand prints. Patients staff and volunteers have painted sections of the robin.

Jess says: “I was keen to get as many people as possible to contribute a bit of themselves to the design. The focus is on patients but I also collected ideas from staff and volunteers so the sculpture reflects the whole hospice family.

“It’s exciting watching those ideas come together into something that people can enjoy and they can see things in the design that reflect their own experiences of the hospice.”

Hoodwinked is an eye-catching world-class sculpture trail due to take place in Nottingham city centre over the summer. The trail, made up of more than 30 sculptures designed and decorated by professional artists and sponsored by Nottingham businesses, will run from July to September, after which the robins will be auctioned to raise funds for Nottinghamshire Hospice, chosen as charity partner for the project.

Mapperley-based building services company ABSN sponsored the hospice sculpture to create an opportunity for patients to work alongside an artist. Nick Clewes and Adam Fukes from ABSN called in to see the painting in action.

Nick says: “The design is amazing. It really captures people’s spirit and input. The project has been perfect for patient participation which is everything we were hoping for.”