Chichester touring show celebrates the unsung heroes

A new Chichester district touring photographic exhibition will give you the chance to look directly into the eyes of volunteers, always the unsung heroes of our community.
Francesca KeyFrancesca Key
Francesca Key

The exhibition comes as part of the Culture Spark initiative and has been masterminded through Chichester College.

It comprises A1-sized black-and-white close-up photographs giving a real sense of that person. As Andy Davies, head of learning – creative & performing arts at Chichester College, explains, it is not an exhibition about the charities and the causes and the organisations that the subjects volunteer for. It is absolutely about the subjects of the photographs themselves. And if you want to know more, a QR code on the images will allow your phone to access an audio file in which you can hear the volunteer tell you what they do and why they do it (a recording lasting 30 seconds to a minute).

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Called We The People, the exhibition starts its tour on May 30. Its progress (week commencing) is: May 30 Petworth House; June 6 Petworth House; June 13 Midhurst Old Library; June 20 Midhurst Old Library; June 27 Pallant House; July 4 Denmead Gardens* TBC; July 17 Chichester Cathedral; July 24 Selsey Town Council* TBC; August 1 Selsey Town Council* TBC; August 8 The Witterings *TBC; August 15 The Witterings *TBC; August 22 CFT; August 29 CFT; Sept 5 Chichester College; Sept 12 Chichester College; Sept 19 Novium; and Sept 26 Novium. The volunteers work for places including UK Harvest, the National Trust, the Chichester Harbour Conservancy education centre, Midhurst Green Volunteers, Chichester Cathedral, the Weald and Downland Living Museum, the Novium and Pallant House Gallery, but as Andy stresses the exhibition is about them, not these organisations.

“The photographs have been taken by one of our professional photographers at the college Richard Crossley. We put out a plea via various different social media and through Culture Spark and I was very passionate that the project was about the people themselves. I didn't want it to be a corporate thing. I wanted it to be about why these people contribute their spare time, why they volunteer so selflessly and I wanted people to be able to look them in the face and also to hear what they have to say through the audio file.

“At the moment we've got about 24 people in the exhibition and you hear about why they do what they do. And it's for so many different reasons. Some people will volunteer for St Wilfrid’s Hospice because they have been affected and have lost people themselves. Other people volunteer as chaperones at the theatre to help people who need someone to help them when they're there. Other people just do it because they are kind and helpful and really want to help others in our community. They are the unsung heroes. I really don't know why we don't acknowledge them better."