In a previous blog, we introduced you to Alfie and Lilly and you will have seen them on our website and all our paperwork.
Alfie and Lilly were created by Ursula Hurst who is an illustrator, author, and an artist. She has such a creative mind and has fun with her illustrations. Ursula was introduced in an earlier Reach blog and her book Drawing Hope was also mentioned.
Drawing Hope is a story that was written by Ursula about a community project that took place in Rishton, Lancashire. Every year the community in Rishton get together and hold an arts project where people make costumes, banners, and puppets for their annual festival. Everyone was really disappointed when the festival had to be cancelled due to the pandemic in 2020. Ursula did not let this stop her, and with a grant from the Arts Council, she organised a special project.
Flags were made by the people involved in the project which displayed everyone’s hopes, wishes, and dreams for the future. The flags were displayed in Rishton for everyone to see, and these were added to, over time. The effect was stunning (please google the project and look for the images) – it brightened up the whole town.
The flags have now been taken down and have been made into four wall hangings for local schools. Hyndburn Academy made their flags from embossed copper, and these were made into a sculpture.
Ursula wrote and illustrated a children’s book at the time to accompany the project: Drawing Hope. The story is about a little girl called Hope who wants to bring colour and fun back into her town. The story is about a determined little girl whoshows great resilience, and it is also about relationships and how, sometimes, we need to stop shutting ourselves off with our thoughts and worries, so that we can get out and talk to others. As the book shows, ‘As they worked, they chatted, sharing the things that have been on their minds for a long time. Their worries became smaller……’. Helping children (and adults) to share and talk is the first step in helping them to deal with their problems and get the help they need.
Ursula wrote the book in the hope that other communities and schools would be inspired to have a go at their own project. This was a great objective, but what Ursula did not know at the time of writing the book was that she would also be nominated for, and go on to win The People’s Book Prize for the best children’s book. This is voted for by the public so is such a rewarding prize for Ursula.
The People’s Book Prize is there for new and undiscovered literary works. Former RAF pilot and investigative journalist,Frederick Forsyth CBE wants to encourage writers to ‘have a go’ and believes he can do this by offering this award in his capacity of Patron of The People’s Book Prize.
Ursula should be very proud of her achievements, and we should all follow the dreams of Hope and try to put some colour into our communities while learning to talk to and support each other.
Reach Behaviour 