Peedie Sea Children’s Centre and Balfour Hospital Orkney

Peedie Sea Children’s Centre and Balfour Hospital, Orkney

The project took place across two key facilities in Orkney delivering children’s services. The Paediatric (Children’s) Occupational Therapy Service was based at the Peedie Sea Centre within Glaitness Primary School. Artists Tumim and Prendergast developed the arts project to enhance the children’s environments, commissioning poetry from Jen Hadfield and Lesley Glaister, and design and graphics from Lynne Strachan for the Peedie Sea Centre.

The artists collaborated with staff at Balfour Hospital and Peedie Sea Children’s Centre to introduce a blend of graphics, textiles, and text throughout both sites. The result was a functional, calming, and family-friendly visual environment for patients, staff, and visitors across Orkney’s children’s services.

The short eared owl hunts in the light, unlike most owls who hunt by night.

Nothing keeps a secret like a cockle, holding it's tongue, keeping schtum.

Something brilliant is about to happen. That's how I know spring is coming, that stifled sound bubbling out of the bog.

Orkney vole - Voloo - Volo - Cuttick - Cuttoo

Oh Massive Partan - crimped like the crust of a steak pie !

Dancing like loons and kickboxing by night, under the moon.

Buggy Sky - Dister - Glamsay Light - Sun Gaa

Collage of embroidered felt artwork and handwritten text about the Peedie Sea, with logos of Grampian Hospitals Trust, NHS, Orkney Islands Council, and The Archie Foundation at the bottom.

Two women talking in a hospital hallway with framed pictures on the wall, an exit sign, and a sign pointing to the main entrance and reception.

Photo of a coastal landscape with grassy fields, water, and a partly cloudy sky on the left; embroidered fabric with the phrase "Hush, you can hear a thistle open" and a picture of a rabbit and a hare on the right.

Open landscape showing a grassy field leading to a body of water under a partly cloudy sky on the left, and on the right, a circular piece of paper with a handmade art featuring two rabbits holding a trumpet, with the text "Hush, you can hear a thistle open" and a sun with green leaves surrounding it.

A patch with an embroidered ocean scene and the text "is it a wave or a dolphin?" and a photograph of stormy sea waves crashing on a beach, under dark, cloudy skies.

A beach scene with dark, stormy skies and ocean waves crashing onto the shore, accompanied by an embroidered patch with the text "is it a wave or a dolphin?" and a stylized blue and gray wave design

Hospital room with a bed, blue headboard, white pillow, medical equipment mounted on the wall, a chair, and a purple curtain. There are two posters on the wall, one with a landscape photo and another with a hand gripping a handle.

A classroom scene with a teacher standing in front of a digital screen and whiteboard, teaching a group of students seated at a table. The students are listening, some with notebooks open. There are educational posters and charts on the walls.

Six colorful felt felt circle cutouts with swirl and other abstract shapes, arranged on a white sheet. Background shows a wooden table with small items, including a pink and green pin cushion, some yellow items, and a plastic container on top.

Stack of scrapbooks on a table, with craft supplies such as colorful rubber bands and yarn in the background.

Collage of landscape photos and cutouts on a white sheet. Includes images of open skies, fields, and animated animal silhouettes, with handwritten notes and decorative cutouts.

Indoor hallway with a cream colored wall, a mirror with a landscape picture, a small crab cutout, and coins or circles attached to it. A woman is standing in the background, taking a photo.

Interior of a room with beige brick wall, white ceiling, framed artwork, radiator, and ceiling lights. One framed artwork features a colorful illustration with a circular shape and text.

A cluttered work table with art supplies including markers, scissors, glue sticks, and colored paper, along with scrapbook albums displaying photos and handwritten notes.

Circular decorative plate featuring a landscape scene with rolling hills, fields, and a tractor, wrapped in packaging bubble wrap.

People stand in a hallway looking at framed displays on the wall. The hallway has a beige wall, a white ceiling with fluorescent lights, and a tan and gray patterned floor.

Decorative wall with two circular mirrors and a quote surrounded by a colorful border, a silhouette of a dog playing on the wall, and a string of mirror circles, in a room with a beige brick wall and a door with a sign.

Close-up of embroidered text on layered colorful felt circles. The text reads: "Massive Partition. Oh massive Partition - your biceps are so round and brown, your abs are so square and shining! you're as big as a fruitcake. and compared like the orange of a steak pie!" The circles are pink, green, and yellow, with a small illustration of a bowl at the bottom.

Open scrapbook with eight circular pictures and notes about the ocean, beach, sand dunes, and flamingos, including colorful drawings and handwritten questions and comments.

Wall display with photographs of beaches, landscapes, and a field of flowers, decorated with colorful paper cutouts resembling ladybugs and other insects.

A hallway with yellow brick walls, decorated with landscape photographs, and a wooden ceiling with blue circular ceiling lights. At the end of the hallway, there is a door labeled 'Pool' and a blue locker.

Felt craft project featuring the words 'Oh mama' and 'parcane' with colorful felt shapes, including a pink shape at the bottom, and some embroidered elements, pinned with various colored pins.

A page from a notebook displaying sketches and notes about an art exhibition. It includes colored pencil drawings of circular artworks, a hand-drawn seating arrangement, and handwritten descriptions. There are two photographs of a sunset over a body of water at the bottom of the page.

Two workers in yellow safety vests working in a room with beige walls and a round landscape photograph hanging on the wall.

Hospital corridor with wooden double doors and signs for child health clinic, framed artwork with a humorous quote about a Steak Pie, and an exit sign.