7 minute read
TRUE COLOURS
Colour can affect our mood and evoke memories good and bad. Jackie Rankin meets a veteran bringing colour into the lives of young people, and talks to the experts designing hospital wards with recovery in mind.
Soldier Andy Reid woke up after major trauma surgery to the glare of white all around him. “I’d just found out I was still alive, but seeing the bright lights, white walls, ceiling, sheets, I thought I was going towards that light people say happens when you’re facing death.”
Veteran Andy Reid is bringing colour into the lives of young people.
Andy, a corporal with 3rd battalion Yorkshire Regiment, was leading his men back from a routine excursion in Afghanistan in 2009 when he stood on an IED (improvised explosive device). He was loaded into a truck and taken back to base. It was only when he tried to get morphine from his pouch that he realised his arm was almost severed.
His left hand was also badly damaged but worse was to come. Andy was put in an induced coma, stabilised and flown back to England. When he woke up from the coma his left leg had been amputated above the knee and his right leg below. Almost all his right arm was lost.
Through rehabilitation he yearned to be in natural surroundings.” I felt lucky to be alive, but it’s harder to think positively in sterile surroundings.”
Since then Andy’s married his girlfriend Claire, become a father, and used his tremendous mental resilience and experiences to help others. Part of that ‘giving back’ was to develop his charitable trust, the Standing Tall Foundation, for young people who have encountered adversity.
He’s a strong advocate of therapeutic spaces as people recover from trauma or injury. When Crown Decorating Centres asked him to open a store in his home town of St Helens he saw an opportunity for his Foundation therapy rooms to be made even more cathartic for troubled youngsters. They’ve agreed to support him by providing materials.
“People come here to talk. We see young people who self harm. I want them to be somewhere calming where they feel able to share their innermost feelings. We don’t want rainbows, just calm colours and low lighting to create a peaceful calm space.”
It’s typical of a man who doctors thought may not overcome his injuries. But Andy is goal driven. He never refuses a challenge, abseiling and skydiving to raise funds for charities.
His Foundation launched just before lockdown. Funding was still in the pipeline, but the requests for help came, and were fulfilled. They included the hotel room for a veteran previously sleeping in his car, and two months rent paid on a house for a man about to be made homeless.
Andy’s friend John Tabern pays tribute to the man he says has more mental strength than anyone you’ll meet.
“He never blamed anyone for what happened to him. He took responsibility for joining the army and testing himself in a war zone. There’s no bitterness. His drive and commitment to improving himself is second to none.”
Andy has met HRHs Princes Charles, William and Harry and was awarded an MBE in 2019 for his charity work. He uses his position unashamedly, not for himself but the kids he supports.
“I’ve known adversity. My family was in a car crash with a drunk driver. I broke my leg and my mum became an amputee. I missed a lot of schooling and as I grew up I made wrong decisions – I stole my mum’s car and crashed it, I was expelled and followed the wrong path for a while.
“I understand these kids, I can relate to them. If I’d carried on down that path I’d probably have misused drugs and alcohol. The army was the best thing I could have done. I found it easier being on tour than doing 12 hour shifts in a factory or a building site.
“I can use my experience to give them life skills. I tell them to set their own goals; the immediate goal might be to turn up on time at school with a pen, pencil, ruler and rubber. The mid term might be 100 per cent attendance and the long term goal something else. It doesn’t matter what the goal is – it’s achieving it that matters.”
MORE INFORMATION Standing Tall Foundation: standingtall.co.uk
HOW DO YOU WANT TO FEEL?
When choosing colours ask yourself ‘how do I want to feel’? says Lynn Lindley, interior designer for Mersey Care’s £53 million Rowan View medium secure hospital.
Interior Designer Lynn Lindley
Service users told us they wanted to feel safe, to go into a place that they can relate to as a good experience. They wanted their spaces to be the colours of nature. We worked closely with the architects and builders who were already on the job and with service users we came up with the concept of ‘seasons’. Once we had that we could create imagery. It was wonderful, we incorporated leaves that changed colour, and berries.
“We wanted staff to feel good in their dedicated spaces too, so we chose a different colour and feel for those areas. It’s rewarding, you’re making a difference to someone’s life.”
Paint companies are taking the guesswork out of matching colours. “Computer programs can now show how colours can be used together to create a mood and make the space do what you want it to do.”
LYNN’S TIPS FOR CREATING A VERSATILE SPACE
“Start with an image, like a beach. Pick out colours within that image and decide how to use them. If you like to ring the changes, choose a neutral colour for walls, ceilings and floors and
Colours is used to create therapeutic interiors at Rowan View medium secure hospital.
add stronger colours through a feature wall which can easily be changed, or soft furnishings.”
• Lynn Lindley is Studio Associate Director and Interior Designer with IBI Group.
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust's Rowan View Hospital
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust's Rowan View Hospital
WHY DO WE PREFER CERTAIN COLOURS?
It could be that we’ve evolved to prefer colours that our ancient ancestors associated with survival, safety and health says neuroscientist Christian Jarrett.
Already by just a few months of age, babies are picky about colours, preferring to gaze at brighter colours like blue and red rather than duller ones such as brown.
However, our life experiences and the culture we grow up in are also likely to play a large role in our colour preferences. There’s evidence, for example, that our emotional reactions to objects and symbols can sway our preferences – the colour of our favourite football team, for instance, or a favourite piece of clothing.
• Dr Christian Jarrett is a cognitive neuroscientist, science writer and author. Read the full article in the BBC Science Focus: sciencefocus.co.uk
COLOURS EVOKE EMOTION
Colours link directly into our emotions says Hannah Slater, interior designer for Mersey Care’s Leigh Moss Hospital and state of the art Low Secure Unit.
Her advice to budding designers is to choose colours that replicate nature and you can’t go wrong.
“Warm shades of green, yellow and even light blues reinforce a feeling of restfulness and calm. Yellow sparks creativity so hints of a brighter shade will give a happy feel.”
She advocates pale greys to reduce anxiety and even a soft white if you want a relaxing space. “Although white is used in sterile environments, a gentle off white can link to feelings of newness, perhaps the next chapter of your life,”
Hannah is using a combination of lavender and green in designs for the interiors at Mersey Care’s new Low Secure Unit. “Even a pale purple symbolises richness and these are the colours of so many plants.”
HANNAH’S TOP TIP?
“Light plays a massive role in making spaces look bigger. If you’re planning a dark feature wall be aware it will draw the wall towards you. Don’t be tempted to paint the opposite wall or it’ll feel like your room has shrunk!”
