Dorothy House Hospice Care hosted a ‘Before I Die’ Wall event at The University of Bath recently as part of the Student Union’s Volunteer Office Charity Information Week.
Students, staff and visitors to the university were invited to add their life goals, dreams and ambitions to the cube – a four-sided chalk board wall situated on the plaza outside the Student Union café.
The event was enthusiastically embraced by students and staff with the cube surrounded by crowds of people reading, photographing and discussing what others had written while adding their own contributions.
Participants also embraced the discussion on social media via the Twitter hashtag #BIDBathUni and on the University of Bath‘s Instagram account.
Life goals written on the chalk board ranged from the humorous to the touching and profound, with some of the entries below shedding a unique light on the student’s hopes and dreams for their future:
·To be able to change my duvet cover!
·To become a world famous journalist
·To live ·To be truly happy
.To finish lab paper 3
·To fall in love and enjoy every moment
·To make a significant impact
·To visit every continent
·To become the UN Secretary General
·To have a wife, children and a dog
·To see a world where everyone is accepted, no matter belief, religion, gender, looks…
Stephen Dale, head of voluntary services at Dorothy House Hospice Care said of the event: “Death along with taxes, as the saying goes is still one of life’s certainties and our ‘Before I Die’ wall event aims to encourage everyone to focus on living life to the full and exploring their dreams and hopes for the future.”
Before I Die walls were inspired by Candy Chang, the New Orleans artist who created the “Before I Die…” wall concept. Her website shares the story of how, “After losing someone she loved, Chang channelled her grief and depression into this project on an abandoned house in her New Orleans neighbourhood to restore perspective and find consolation with her neighbours. She covered the crumbling house with chalkboard paint and stencilled it with the prompt, ‘Before I die I want to _____.’”
Anna Boneham, student volunteer manager at the University of Bath said: “The ‘Before I Die’ Wall created a real buzz on campus and word quickly spread amongst students and staff to get involved, with many commenting on what a positive experience the Wall created. It was great to see a range of ages adding their thoughts and was a really innovative way to link with Dorothy House once again.”
While hosted at the University of Bath this week, Dorothy House hopes to host further ‘Before I Die’ events around the Somerset and Wiltshire area in the future. The events are open to everyone, so look out for the next event on dorothyhouse.org.uk.
Celebrating its 40th birthday this year, Dorothy House Hospice Care (DHHC) is a leading, independent charity and our services are available free of charge. DHHC provides palliative and end of life care across 700 sq miles, serving a population of 550,000 people.
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