Tourette’s Awareness Month -Achieving through Art

Winstanley College and former Our Lady’s Queen of Peace student, Emily Bridges, has been speaking out about living with Tourette’s Syndrome to support The Walton Centre in raising awareness on Tourette’s Syndrome Awareness Day 2022.

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, a leader in the treatment and care of neurology and neurosurgery, approached Emily about supporting their campaign and she was only too happy to help. She featured in a photo shoot and detailed her experience of developing symptoms, being diagnosed and her journey since then, in a press release shared on the Trust’s website. The story has also been picked up by the Liverpool Echo!

Emily was diagnosed at 18 with the condition after suffering symptoms which lead to her GP referring her to The Walton Centre. At such a stressful and worrying time, Emily, now 20, found an outlet for relaxation through her passion and talent for art.

Despite the ongoing health concerns, Emily achieved 3 A*s in Art, Graphics and Photography A-level and secured a place on Winstanley’s Art Foundation Degree. Emily has a particular passion for art instillation and enjoys creating large immersive pieces, that appeal to the senses.  She loves to explore colour and what it means to others, choosing blue for her impressive Art Foundation exhibition piece (pictured).

Emily said: ‘“I continuously explore meditative processes as part of my study of the connection between the mind and body, which is therapeutically rewarding for me and my Tourette’s. Since my diagnosis, the relationship between me and my art practice has been really close.”

Emily is supported by her sister, Amy who is equally passionate about art and is a lower sixth student at Winstanley.  Amy took the photos for Emily’s publicity piece in The Liverpool Echo and states Emily as her inspiration, commenting “I’m really proud of Emily and all she has achieved since her diagnosis. Her ability to overcome barriers is inspirational and I feel lucky to have someone to share my love of art with.”

Emily is going on to study Fine Art at Liverpool John Moors University in September and hopes to become an art teacher in the future. Amy is hoping to go on to a degree in psychology after college with plans incorporate art into a career within this area.