Wyre Council, Regenda Homes and M&Y Maintenance and Construction have launched a brand new art project to reflect on the impact of the pandemic and look forward to a positive future of recovery.
‘Doors’ is an arts and health project which quite literally uses old doors to tell tales of Covid and lockdown in the houses they once fronted.
In September 2020, M&Y Maintenance and Construction replaced the front doors of 50 Regenda Homes properties based in Fleetwood. Rather than go to waste, the council is upcycling the doors through a range of workshops, to be displayed in a public exhibition.
Doors have already been delivered across Fleetwood to organisations including Fleetwood Museum, Fylde Coast YMCA, The Zone Youth Service and Lancashire Fire and Rescue who are working with local people and groups to transform the doors into pieces of art.
Later in the year, the doors will be brought together in an exhibition for the whole of Wyre to enjoy. On 29 October, the transformed doors will be displayed outside Marine Hall in Fleetwood, under the colonnades. Between noon and 3pm there will be artists on site to encourage members of the public to help design other doors, and for families and children, a chance to decorate a mini fairy garden door.
Then in November there will be a further exhibition as part of the ‘Sanctuary’ arts marquee coming to Marine Gardens from 10 to 14 November where there will be art exhibitions, showcases and performances providing a chance for local people to reflect on the last eighteen months and look towards the future.
Councillor Julie Robinson, Wyre Council’s Mental Health Champion comments, “Throughout the pandemic households have spent more time at home behind doors. Shops, businesses and schools closed their doors and we stood at our doorsteps to clap for the NHS. Everyone has been impacted and we have all had our own struggles. Doors is an opportunity to express our most recent history and to highlight the community’s power of coping and survival as we look towards the future with hope.
“It’s important that we recognise the impact the pandemic has had on mental health and throughout the project we will be working with local agencies who support people with mental health concerns.
“We are pleased to work with Regenda Homes and M&Y Maintenance and Construction on this. We are grateful for the materials they have given us which will allow the local community to come together, be creative and tell their story. The doors may find new homes within business receptions, in schools or in public open space, but the real legacy is one of inspiration. To use the old cliché as one door closes another one opens.”
Steve Newsham Regional Director at Regenda Homes said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership alongside our maintenance company, M&Y Maintenance and Construction who have provided a recycling alternative for the doors. The interest from the community has been brilliant and we look forward to seeing the creative results.”
Gill Kelly, Managing Director at M&Y Maintenance and Construction said: “M&Y are delighted to support this project, the last 18 months has been challenging for everyone and we love the symbolism of this project of resilience through a difficult time and hope for the future, we cannot wait to see some of the finished designs.”
For more information about the project and how to get involved contact artsandevents@wyre.gov.uk