Praise from NHS worker for college teacher.

As we enter another lockdown and NHS staff are working under increasing pressures, one hospital worker has taken the time to write a letter of praise for New City College Havering’s Electrical Installation teacher Otis Griffith.

Otis, who works at the Ardleigh Green campus in Hornchurch, created an amazing metal sculpture back in the first lockdown as a tribute to the NHS. He was inspired to make it when he saw the appreciation for doctors, nurses and other key workers after taking part in the regular ‘Clapping for the NHS’ on a Thursday evening. It is now displayed on a wall at King George Hospital in Goodmayes.

The words of praise have come from Alex Skinner, who said: “I work at King George Hospital and I have been meaning to write for a while. I just wanted to say a huge thank you for the amazing sculpture you made for the NHS. It is a truly beautiful creation and it is one of the only things that both inspires me and lifts my spirits each and every time I see it. 

“I know a lot of others feel the same way and we are very grateful to have it on display in our workplace. It has been positioned near to the staff entrance, so luckily most people get a chance to see it on their way in or out of work, which I hope was deliberate!”

Otis is a self-taught sculptor and has been creating art pieces from scrap metal in his spare time for around 25 years. He recently won the BBC TV show Home Is Where The Art Is with a sculpture of a family’s pet dog looking up at a cat in a tree, beating two other professional artists to the £1,000 prize.

He said: “Building metal sculptures is my passion – as well as teaching! I wanted to do something to show appreciation for all the hard-working NHS staff. I am so pleased they like the sculpture and it is lifting spirits during these hard times.”