Young patient’s painting wins top prize at London fundraiser

A young Evelina London patient has scooped the top prize at a charity art auction with her piece, titled Home from Home.

The annual charity auction was held at St Thomas’ Hospital and hosted by ADP Architecture, with this year’s proceeds going towards Evelina London Children’s Charity, which supports the staff and patients of Evelina London Children’s Hospital.

Young Artist of the Year award winner, Lilah Hopewell, 12, was born with Alagille Syndrome, a complex genetic illness that usually causes liver damage, kidney disease and loss of kidney function, and high blood pressure, as well as other lifelong problems. In Lilah’s case, these symptoms required a liver transplant and specialist care by clinical teams at Evelina London where Lilah has been a patient since she was 3 months old.

Joanna Newton, one of the Evelina London nurses who has cared for Lilah, was thrilled to see her win, saying: “Lilah is a pleasure to look after and has been through a lot, so it is lovely to see her win the Young Artist of the Year award and have her creativity and artistic talents recognised.”

Lilah’s mum Daisy, from Shoeburyness in Essex, was with her at the auction where she received the award, and said:

"We're all so proud of Lilah. When we found out about her winning an award in the competition, we rang everyone in the family to tell them and posted it on social media.

“She's really artistic; she did the artwork when she was recovering from surgery, so to win an award for that is really special.

“So many members of our family have been treated by Evelina London over the years for everything from urology to issues with sleep. The hospital also cared for Lilah’s cousin Jack who sadly passed away, so it’s lovely to be able to be part of something that is giving back to the hospital.”

Rob Halkyard, Executive Director of Evelina London Children’s Charity, said:

“It’s fantastic to see Lilah win this award and we’re incredibly grateful to ADP for raising so much money for the Evelina London Children’s Charity. This time of year can be particularly hard for families and thanks to the generosity of ADP and those who took part in the auction, more children like Lilah will be able to benefit from the world class care and support of Evelina London.”

Lilah used paint, pens and glitter to create her winning ‘Home from home’ masterpiece. She said:

“My artwork is to show things from my home life and how hospital can still be fun."

The ADP Art Challenge was launched in 2018 by architect firm ADP's former Chair, Roger Fitzgerald, as a way for employees to express creativity while raising money for charity. ADP Architecture is designing the new spaces for the specialist children's cancer services for children from south London and much of southeast England that are moving to Evelina London Children's Hospital, as well as new spaces for our existing kidney and heart services.

Through their work, they have heard from patients and their families about how these areas could be designed to feel like a home from home, inspiring the theme for this year’s competition.

The event raised over £4,000 for Evelina London Children’s Charity, with organisers saying they hope Lilah’s story will inspire other young people - especially those dealing with long-term health conditions - to explore art as a way to express themselves. For Lilah, the night ended with big smiles and excitement for her next masterpiece.