Reflections on the Touch 4 Love walk and poster making workshop
The Bridge is proud to be part of the Touch 4 Love Campaign, forming a trail of posters around Southwark to remind people to slow down, take in the present moment and remember they’re loved. Find out more about the Touch 4 Love campaign and its origins here.
During the HUB project, our staff and community members went on a group walk from The Bridge to Crossbones Graveyard and Remembrance Garden to see one of the original Touch 4 Love signs.
As we arrived at Crossbones, we were greeted by Matt, one of the gardeners for Bankside Open Spaces Trust (BOST). Matt gave us an overview of the history of Crossbones and a tour of the space, which has become an ever-growing multicultural memorial garden to the lives of different communities. One of our HUB project members reflected on what she learnt: ‘to learn that those buried in Crossbones Garden were deemed outcasts and not worthy of being buried in consecrated grounds yet, shrines have been set up in the gardens with vigils being held to remember those who were buried there, as well as others who have passed away, was bittersweet’.
Here are some of our highlights of the garden:
This area of the garden is dedicated to children, including those who lost their lives prenatally through miscarriages or stillbirths. In Japanese Buddhist teachings, these Mizuko Jizo statues are believed to be protectors of children and unborn babies. In Japan, offerings including red bonnets and bibs are symbols of love, energy, life and protection. Everyone is welcome to visit the statues and lay their own offerings or to simply enjoy the space.
In 2022, The Outside Project held a ceremony at Crossbones in memory of transgender people who lost their lives because of transphobia. This act of remembrance included the unveiling of this sculpture by Svar Simpson and Lola Nicholson.
The Crossbones Garden is open to the public from 12.00-14.00pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. They always have lovely volunteers available to fill you in on the history and answer any questions!
Mizuko Jizo statues at Crossbones Graveyard
This is one of the original Touch 4 Love signs which was recently given a new lick of paint. If you’d like to find a moment of peace amongst the hustle and bustle of London Bridge, we recommend paying it a visit!
After our tour of Crossbones, we headed back to The Bridge Cafe where we were joined by more of The Bridge community to take part in our Touch 4 Love poster making workshop. Everyone was invited to create a piece of art using acrylic paint that reflects what The Bridge, well-being and mindfulness means to them. As we all sat around a big table creating art and listening to music, we discussed the importance of taking time away from the everyday stresses of life to do mindful activities, like art, to help us to unwind and be present. As Joy, our CEO, said, the activity helped her to ‘feel less frazzled’ (Joy pictured below painting with her hands).
The importance of the campaign can also be shown through our HUB members feedback:
the Touch 4 Love campaign is something that really resonates with me. It’s a reminder that even in your darkest hour, you’re not alone. Whether it be family, friend or stranger, people do care and you’re loved beyond measure. Doing the poster workshop at The Bridge really brought the feeling of not being alone to life for me.
In our next poster making workshop on the 8th of March (14.00-16.00pm, The Bridge Café) we’re going to rip the art we created into smaller pieces and then creatively layer them together to form one big heart. The heart will be digitalised to form our Touch 4 Love poster displayed outside The Bridge.
If you’d like to create a piece of art to add to our poster, please drop into the HUB project on the 1st of march.
