Verey Head Gardner talks us through the process of creating the Christmas 2022 Compton Phone box for the Big Give, with the help of Jon Moore and a dedicated team of Watts volunteers.

Here are the photos of the creation of the Watts Big Give Compton phone box, a project started by Chris back in May 2018 for the royal wedding and since decorated to mark numerous other special occasions throughout the year. An Instagram documenting the decorations can be found here.

This phone box took inspiration from the picture of Mary with her team of volunteers in the 1890's, and was made to celebrate both Christmas and promote Watts Gallery's annual fundraiser, the Big Give.

"We started with a visit to the Chapel with Jon and myself to choose the angels to use, then back home, Jon drew them free hand onto the board and they were painted with background acrylic colour back at Watts Gallery. They were then shaped by volunteer Richard Paxton. Last Wednesday a team of twelve of the Watts gardening volunteers at the Foyle building started work applying collage over three hours. This created a more jewel-like finish akin to stained glass. After the strong PVA glue had dried. They received three coats of an exterior varnish which will help protect them from the elements."

Join us in our Big Give Christmas Challenge and your donations will be doubled - helping us to raise £70,000 to support our Art for All learning programme.

From 29 November to 6 December 2022 (12pm), all Big Give donations will be doubled to support our learning programme and enable us to provide artist-led creative learning for local people who would not ordinarily have this opportunity.

As a thank you, we will send you an A5 art card, featuring an artwork by someone who has taken part in this year's programme to show you the impact of your support.