The Haemoglobinopathy Honeys abseiled for new art project
Our Big QMC Abseil is a popular event with patients, families of patients and even staff from across Nottingham’s NHS hospitals. One of the teams that took on the drop this year was the Haemoglobinopathy Honeys, which were a group comprised of healthcare professionals, patients and their families.
Clinical Psychologist, Laurie Hufton, explained why the team go involved
“The Haemoglobinopathy Honeys are a group that set out to abseil 100 foot down the side of the QMC to raise money for Creative Voices, an art project proposed to take place in 2026 with the aim to empower patients voices through creative expression of lived experiences of Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia, two diseases that affect the red blood cells.
The team dressed as a range of artistic themed outfits (including Scholastica’s creative idea of haemoglobinopathy [red] honeys [bees] – red bees!) and charity T-shirts, the team were eager to fundraise for the project which will shine a light on conditions that are often not well understood.
The money raised from the abseil will go towards empowering the voices of the patient population, with support from the New Art Exchange in Hyson Green who have kindly offered to hold space for art workships and run an exhibition of patient produced artwork for a month. They’ll also be hosting seminars on the conditions to raise awareness. After the exhibition, the pieces will be homed within City Hospital and showcase the creativity of those who live with one of the conditions.
The Big QMC Abseil provided a fantastic opportunity for a fundraising collaboration which allowed for professionals to sit alongside patients to achieve the same shared goal.”
A huge thank you to the Haemaglobinopathy Honeys and their families for joining us at the Big QMC Abseil. If you’d like to be one of the first to hear about next year’s event, please click below.