Green Tree Gallery: Our Chestnut Tree House Year!

Last week we won an award for "Outstanding Small Business" from Chestnut Tree House children's hospice.

We supported Sussex's only children's hospice throughout last year as a way of celebrating the Gallery's 10th birthday. Whilst our fundraising was modest compared with other shortlisted businesses, we did our best to try and raise awareness of the charity in our local community.

We had a fantastic experience working alongside Chestnut Tree House and would encourage anyone to get involved and help support this vital local charity. The award made us realise that even a small business like ours can play a very valuable role.

So here we have a pictorial romp through the various events that we hosted for Chestnut Tree House last year...

Our local MP, Sir Nicholas Soames, opened 'Through the Eyes of a Child', an exhibition themed around the children of the hospice, and including some of their artwork.

In the summer, the Gallery's 10th birthday party marked the launch of 'The Other Summer Exhibition' when we showcased the work of our artists from across the entire decade.

The Gallery's original founders, Julie Janvrin and Jules Middleton, returned to formally open the exhibition and, as with all event launches throughout the year, the Gallery donated 10% of the day's takings to Chestnut Tree House.

In October, we hosted a charity stall with Chestnut Tree House at the popular Cuckfield Local Market. We offered a biscuit decorating activity for children plus a small selection of children's toys and CD's, with all proceeds going to the Hospice.

In the autumn, we put on an exhibition of photographs by local photographer, Sophie Mitchell, of two Chestnut Tree House children, Charlotte and Jacob.