Community Disability Centre Gifted Art Piece by Local Artist

17th February 2023
Image 1: (L to R) At front, Service User Jack (behind Jack) Service User Kenzi with her mum Michaela, Service User Lisa standing in front of Adult Support Worker, Kirsty Dickson, Artist, Chris McGuiggan (centre), Service User Corey, Day Care Nurse, Carolyn Brown standing behind Service User Teri, Service User Adam (far right)

Staff and service users at Ravara Training and Resource Centre (TRC) were recently surprised by Adult Support Worker, Kirsty Dickson who presented them with a unique piece of Artwork that had she won in a Facebook competition.

Kirsty entered the competition to win a large canvas from local artist Chris McGuiggan, who is known in the community by the name CoDoArt. Chris not only creates canvas art, but he has also completed a number of projects including unique and bold murals which are displayed throughout Bangor City Centre.

Kirsty was delighted to win the painting and selflessly decided to donate the piece to Ravara TRC to give the service users and visitors to the centre a distinctive new artwork to enjoy.

Chris attended Ravara to present the prize and said, “Kirsty made a very kind gesture in donating her prize to the centre, it was great to have the chance to come to Ravara TRC today to present my artwork on her behalf. I was able to spend some time chatting with everyone and to see their reaction to my work, no two pieces of my work are the same, which I think makes them quite individual and unique. I hope that the service users, staff and visitors get to enjoy this piece for many years to come.”

Kirsty was very proud to be able to donate the large canvas to the centre and she explained, “The art piece will be a great addition to the centre, it’s a diverse, fun and such a unique piece. I know our service users will really love it because of the variety of colours.

“I am so pleased that Chris took the time to come to the Centre today to meet some of our service users and to present the art piece which will be displayed for everyone to enjoy.”

Ravara TRC provides daycare support for adults with learning disabilities and aims to provide a quality package of daycare in partnership with other agencies to encourage independence, it also provides specialist support for people with complex needs in an Intensive Support Unit.