Paul Barfoot, a Windsor-based artist whose mother was a resident at Rivermede Court care home in Egham, has been invited to paint a sculpture of an elephant that will be placed in the care home’s memorial garden, creating a focal point where residents, their families and friends can reflect and remember their loved ones.
The memory elephant is part of the Trunks Across The Thames project, organised by Thames Hospice, which provides compassionate, specialised care for people facing life-limiting illnesses and offers vital support for their families.
In total 30 elephants – all sponsored by different organisations as part of the Thames Hospice fundraiser – will form a public art trail in Windsor and Slough from July. Elephants are the campaign’s central symbol for their associations with memory, connection, and support during times of loss. Each sponsor decides on their elephant’s design, which will result in a vibrant selection of elephants along the trail, celebrating community, creativity, and the healing power of nature.
Hanka Vlhova, Lead Wellbeing & Lifestyle Co-ordinator at Rivermede Court, a Cinnamon Care Collection care home, said, “We are very proud to be the only care home to sponsor Trunks Across The Thames and to fundraise for such an amazing charity that is so close to our hearts. As part of the project, each sponsor is given a plain elephant and can decide how to decorate it. Given that Paul is a very talented artist who has been supporting our care home with various art-related projects for a number of years, he was the ideal person to design and paint Rivermede Court’s elephant. Paul has come up with an amazing design and we can’t wait to see it when it has been completed! We are excited that our elephant will be part of the nine-week local sculpture trail, a key community project, and will then have a permanent home in Rivermede Court’s memory garden.”
Paul Barfoot added, “My Mother was a resident at Rivermede Court for two and a half years and I have formed a strong relationship with the team members, for whom I have enormous respect. Now that I’m retired, I have more time to contribute to community projects and I derive great pleasure from supporting Rivermede Court with art activities. Painting the elephant is a really exciting project for me to get involved with – and it has been great working with the team at Rivermede Court to discuss ideas and messages that they would like the elephant to convey.”
The design for Rivermede Court’s elephant centres on the themes of memory, dementia, and compassion within the care environment. The artwork features forget-me-nots, a flower widely recognised as a symbol of remembrance and enduring love, and the official emblem of Alzheimer’s awareness. Butterflies will also be incorporated into the design to represent the different forms of dementia and the journey experienced by those living with the condition. Their delicate and fleeting nature reflects the precious moments that may be brief in reality but create a lasting feeling. Cinnamon Care Collection’s logo will also be painted onto the elephant, reinforcing the organisation’s commitment to delivering exceptional care while upholding its core values of passion, respect, dedication and unity.
