The story behind the sculpture…
Ten years ago, the recently named sandstone statue ‘Tammy’ was moved to Derriford Hospital from the Theatre Royal. The statue has now been cleaned, presented with a plaque and an information board, filled with the history of the art work, kindly funded by the Charitable Funds Committee.
The sculpture was originally created by Allan Redford, a very talented, physically disabled artist, between 1996-1998. Allan was one of the Directors of the Plymouth Disabled Arts Forum (PDAF), which was set up to allow people to learn various forms of art.
The sculpture was created for the Theatre Royal to raise awareness of disability needs within the theatre and the surrounding area. After being at the theatre for a very short time, the area housing the statue had to be used to create part of the disability access and the statue was moved to Derriford Hospital.
The Closing Managing Director of PDAF was Mrs Zita Moyse, also physically disabled, who was responsible for all project management and funding. After the forum closed, Zita was determined to continue with the good work that they had aimed to do and has spent two years working with Derriford to complete this.
Zita said: “The statue has been named ‘Tammy’ after Allan’s daughter, who sadly passed away. Even though it has been at Derriford Hospital now for ten years, not many people had noticed it and didn’t know why it was there.
“The sculpture now has a story to it and seeing it right until the end has been the best bit,Tammy statue knowing that it is now complete.
“I had to raise the money for it to be made and after originally seeing it as a clay model, Allan then made it all by hand, using stone from Dartmoor Prison.
“When it was at the Theatre Royal, it was an actress leaning down to somebody in a wheelchair, but now it’s just a person, showing able bodied and disabled together. I really do think it’s brilliant.”
Katherine Major, Facilities Administrator at Derriford Hospital, worked closely with Zita to complete the project and secure the funding.
Katherine said: “When people come into hospital, especially when they are here for some time, they tend to notice things a lot more. Up until now, this statue has sat on display without anything to tell you what it is all about.
“Since putting the art work up, I have seen people looking at the board. It has relevance here and I am really pleased that it is now complete and people can discover the story behind it.”
The statue is located opposite the main entrance on the grass bank.
