Overgate Hospice Panel 2006

In 2006 the Club decided to offer a carved panel to Overgate Hospice in the year when it celebrated 25 years of providing care to the people of Calderdale. The panel was presented on 13 March 2007.

This section of the website provides a report on the panel's construction.

Click on the Gallery button in the menu to see photographs of the completed panel and of the individual plaques which make up the panel.

An article of the panel was featured in issue 101 of the Woodcarver magazine and the Editor has kindly given us approval to show it on our website. Click on this icon to see it.

13 May 2006 - Our Secretary, John, successfully applied for and the Club was granted ?1570 by the Community Foundation of Calderdale to pay for the materials of the panel. Letters were sent out to wood merchants to source the necessary wood.

18 May 2006 - Alongside this activity, John has been identifying and taking photographs of places, activities and features that represent Calderdale. These have then been put before our experts, Norman, Bryan, Mike and Dennis to select subjects that are suitable for carving. Quite a few have been rejected because the detail in the subject, although very nice, will not transfer to a carving block (or could it be that they are just being awkward! - if many more are rejected there could be a blood bath on the border of Kirklees and Calderdale!). Norman has been busy with his ruler and pencil with the daigram for the overall panel into which we shall have to see if we can fit the final selction of subjects. Tracey, having access at work to a top of the range photocopier, and not being wise enough to keep her head down, has been co-opted to blow up the photographs to the finished size.

22 May 2006 - This week sees more work being done by John on the format of the panel, resizing and taking further photographs, with a further scrutiny by the 'experts' planned for 25 May.

August 2006 - Much work has gone on behind the scenes during the last 2 months. The overall size of the panel has been enlarged and now there are 41 individual plaques to carve. Much discussion has gone on in the selection of the most approriate subjects and photographs, but now most of the photographs have been chosen and most have been made into the correct size. In the next 2 weeks the final selections should be made and then the individual panels will be allocated to the volunteer carvers.

The wood has been collected from Northumberland and it is now in finished pieces, stored neatly away in bags sewn by John's wife, Carole.

So by the beginning of September when the carving classes start, the plaques should be ready to hand out for the carvers to get carving. At this point there will be a diagram of the panel on this website and it will be possible to show the progress being made on the plaques. So watch this space!

October - the plaques are now being carved and wood chippings are flying!

December - several plaques are now complete and progress is being maintained on the rest. See the gallery for photographs of current progress.

Arrangements are in hand for the presentation to Overgate Hospice. This will take place on Tuesday 13 March 2007 at the Halifax Town Hall with the Mayor of Calderdale presiding. After the unveiling, the panel will be on display to the general public in the Town Hall for 2 weeks prior to being installed in its permanent location in the reception area of Overgate Hospice.

Norman is busy working on the layout of the lettering that will grace the frame, after it has been constructed by Bryan and Dennis.

Neil is busily researching information on each plaque so that the booklet can be produced to accompany the panel. John and Anne are assisting with this. All is going on nicely!

1 February - all but one of the plaques are complete. Dennis is busily dipping each one into sealer and allowing them to dry. The wood for the frame has been machined to size and has been passed on to Norman for him to start the lettering.

John has been busily organising the handover arrangements. The panel will be presented to Overgate Hospice at the Halifax Town Hall at 7 pm on Tuesday 13 March 2007 by Dr Ingrid Roscoe, Lord-Lieutenant of West Yorkshire assisted by The Worshipful the Mayor of Calderdale, Councillor Colin Stout. The Halifax Light Opera Society Juniors will provide entertainment for the evening. After the presentation, the panel will be on public view from Wednesday 14 ? Saturday 17 March and Monday 19 ? Saturday 24 March 2007 between the hours of 10.30am and 4.30pm. The panel will then be moved to Overgate Hospice for installation into its permanent home in the reception area.

The booklet is well on its way. Neil has done sterling work finding information for each plaque and now John and Anne are putting the text into the available spaces prior to taking it to the printers.

Stuart Noble, a member of the Halifax Photographic Society, has agreed to be the official photographer and to photograph each plaque, the group of carvers and the completed panel. These photographs will then go into the booklet, copies of which will be avilable for purchase at Overgate Hospice.

John has been seeking publicity for the panel and an article on it appeared in the Huddersfield Examiner on Monday 12 February 2007. On Thursday 15 February 2007, a presenter from BBC Look North will be filming at the Overgate Hospice, the Kirkwood Hospice and at the carving class run by Malcolm Till where many of the carvers will be present. At this moment, we do not know when it will be aired. We are hoping that the press and TV will be present at the presentation of the completed panel.

A dinner to unveil the panel to the carvers and to other members of the Club, will take place on Wednesday 7 March 2007 at Meltham Golf Club.

So at this time, everything is coming together but the worry is can it all come together for the apropriate dates. We shall see! Watch this space!

February 2007 - Stuart Noble, from Halifax Photographic Society, kindly took photographs of the individual carvings, the carvers and of the completed panel.

7 March 2007 - All the carvings were completed, dipped and assembled into the frame. Norman completed the lettering beautifully, Bryan devised a cloth for the unveiling and the whole project came together on time for the dinner at Meltham Golf Club today. A great evening was had by all who attended and the silence that ensued when the panel was unveiled was a delight. All the hours of effort suddenly seemed worthwhile. John, Anne and Tracey had put together booklets for each carver containing the text devised by Neil. These were gratefully received as a mememto of the project.

March 2007 - John and Anne oversaw the printing of the official booklet by the printers. These were collected by John on the day of the hand-over and they look great.

Tuesday 13 March 2007 arrived and the big hand-over. This was an excellent event at which the Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, Dr Ingrid Roscoe, formally handed over the panel to Overgate Hospice. The Worshipful the Mayor of Calderdale, Councillor Colin Stout handed out certificates to each carver and members of the Club presented flowers. Norman presented a carved rose to Dr Roscoe and the Mayor and to John, who had worked so tirelessly in order to bring the whole project to its conclusion. Jane, one of the Joint Coordinators of the Club did a superb job as Master of Cermony and Mike Hadfield, Project Coordinator, gave a brief explanation of the concept and construction of the panel.

The panel is now on display in Halifax Town Hall along with a fantastic display of carvings done by members of the Club from 10.30 am to 4.30 pm each day from 14 - 24 March 2007, excluding Sunday. Don't miss seeing it! 

2 April 2007 - tonight the panel was unveiled in its final resting place in the reception area at Overgate Hospice and a cheque for £1200 from the sale of the booklets was handed over. The panel will now be on view to all who wish to see it and, it is hoped, that it will provide a talking point and an area of quiet reflection for all visitors and patients. The booklets will continue to be on sale, providing a lasting memory for visitors, and all the money from their sales will directly benefit the Hospice.