Hoarding art at The Christie

A hoarding painting competition was held at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust Integrated Procedures Unit (IPU) project, where two local primary schools went head-to-head, showing great community spirit. 

Mace is project managing The Christie’s IPU project in Manchester and is working together with Interserve. The companies asked local pupils from both West Didsbury Primary School and Cavendish Community Primary School to paint their interpretation of the ‘Four Seasons’ on the site’s hoardings.

The Christie is a leading expert in cancer care, research and education based in Manchester. The Trust is the largest single site cancer centre in Europe, treating more than 44,000 patients a year.

The IPU will be a state-of-the-art unit which will bring five currently separated day-patient services together under one roof. Thousands of patients will all receive treatment in one place creating a seamless treatment experience. This will mean shorter waiting times for day-patients who need to see plastic surgery, endoscopy, radiology, pain management or day case procedures teams.

Four lucky pupils’ paintings were chosen as the winners by the IPU Project Board. Both schools have been rewarded for their fantastic efforts with invitations to the unveiling ceremony that will take place next term. The schools will also be receiving gift vouchers for their art departments.

Because safety is integral to the construction industry, Mace and Interserve have also offered to give a talk on ‘Site Safety’ in and around construction sites to raise awareness.

Mace’s IPU project manager at The Christie, Leigh Carter, said: “It’s great to get the community involved in this project because of what the facility will mean to people once it’s completed. The unit will be providing a number of important services so getting school children involved in some friendly competition and educating them about the unit as well as things like site safety is really important.”

Roger Spencer, Chief Executive of The Christie, said: “The IPU is going to make a huge difference to the lives of our patients when it is up and running. In the interim our patients will now have something cheerful to look at when they enter the main entrance of the hospital. Thank you to all the children who competed.”

Currently five months into a 12 month construction programme, the project is due in March 2017. The unit is being built above the existing main entrance to the Christie Hospital and will have key interfaces with adjacent units. The project, costing circa £9m, will provide a Gross Internal Floor Area (GIFA) of 1,375m². Steelwork is currently being erected at the site.