Van Gogh Ted is the main-man of the Arts Wish List, an initiative which encourages students at Glossopdale Community Arts College to write an arts-related wish and, if they`re lucky, have the wish granted!
Van Gogh Ted
Dear Reader,
I am a student at Glossopdale Community College, and on 28th March, 2006, I went on an Arts Wish Trip to Manchester to see “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” with my Drama Teacher, Mr Allan Walker and my friend Katherine Wright.
Because this experience was an “Arts Wish” it meant all expenses were paid by the school, meaning we got a free lunch and theatre tickets. With the tickets at £45 each, I would have never been able to go without the Arts Wish and would have missed out on a spectacular day. So many thanks to those who arranged the trip and especially to Sean Wood who is the proud owner of Van Gogh Ted, and I believe the originator of this project. But as they say there is no such thing as a free lunch, so in return for the wonderful day, I have agreed to write this piece which will describe my day and hopefully inform you of the Arts Wish Project. A small price to pay I ‘m sure you’ll agree.
Full of excitement and anticipation Katherine and I stood by the gates of Glossopdale Community College waiting for Allan Walker to arrive. Not off to the best of starts it seemed because Katherine and I were waiting by the gates of the wrong site; quickly corrected by a short phone call and a site change. Nevertheless we were soon on the road and on the way to the Palace Theatre, where “Chitty” was showing and planning where the best place would be to consume a free lunch!
It was decided that a good Chinese buffet restaurant on the edge of Chinatown was the best place to go, cheap and eat all you want, naturally. So after filling ourselves with far too much good Chinese food we headed off to the Theatre. After buying programmes (build your own Chitty programmes) we sat down and waited for the show to begin!
A couple of hours later we stumbled out of the theatre, wide eyed and humming tunelessly. With no exaggeration, it has to go down as one of the best live shows I have ever seen, a statement which was pretty much agreed upon by all three of us. So to cancel out that Chinese meal of before, we ran up the sixteen storeys of stairs where Mr Walker had parked his car, and practically collapsed into the seats still humming even more tunelessly.
After a rush hour journey back, we arrived back in Hadfield, still I might add, humming. So in all a very successful day, I think it shows how the arts wish project can turn arts dreams into reality and that this trip is testament to that. I hope you enjoyed reading my little diary entry and that you take advantage of this opportunity.
Tom Ready.
Pic Advertiser Group of Newspapers.
Van Gogh ted and Jessica Curtis at Cosgrove Hall Films June 2006
Miss Howarth escorted Van Gogh Ted to Rome, report coming shortly.
