GEARS new penny bench

I should have posted this up ages ago, but better late than never

What a great community day we had when GEARS unveiled their lovely penny bench in Birchfield Park.

It is a wonderful and yet functional art installation, a bench made of Welsh slate (because lots of Welsh people came to live in that part of Liverpool) bearing mosaics designed and made by local people about themselves. There is for instance a lovely picture of a boy pushing a big (symbolic) piece of Meccano which relates to local industry and employment and also the boy himself who, having aged a few years, is local resident Arthur.

There is a mosaic of a dancing couple, designed from photos of the Secretary of GEARS and her husband who runs junior GEARS (EAGERS) when they danced at a community event.

There is a mosaic of the nearby Pheonix School, raising from the ashes of the old Birchfield School (which the bench also celebrates).

It is called a penny bench because it is shaped like a penny going into a money bank slot.

It is a great thing and Wendy and I really enjoyed the day and the party.

Ann and her group worked tremendously hard with a local art company, Safe Productions, They deserve praise and thanks for creating this lasting legacy. The Heritage Lottery Fund paid about £40,000 towards it.

Very Well Done!

GEARS is a Fairfield Residents Assocation, an acronym made up of the first letters of all the streets they serve: Gresham Street, Garthowen Road, Eltham Street, Edge Grove, Edge Lane, Adamson Street, Alford Street, Romulus Street and South Bank Road.