In Dartford, an artist has created a Memory Bear for ellenor’s art trail – a sculpture that will carry the names of people who are loved and remembered.

Becky grew up in Dartford, which means she talks about it with the sort of honesty only locals can.

“It’s kind of a love-hate relationship when you’ve lived somewhere for so long,” she says.

But this is home. It is where she went to school, where her first friendships were formed, where the memories that shaped her began.

“I think childhood memories mean a lot to people,” she says. “Living here and getting to see the town change and develop, it’s just nice to see a place through so many years.”

That matters, because this summer Becky will leave her own mark on the town she knows so well.

A Dartford-born illustrator, she has been chosen to create ellenor’s Memory Bear for the charity’s We’re Going on a Bear Hunt art trail. Sponsored by Barnes Construction, who recently built the new Wellbeing Centre for the hospice, the sculpture is designed to hold the names of loved ones and invite people to pause, remember and reflect.

For Becky, 27, the project felt right immediately.

“I was reading about it and I was like, this is perfect,” she says. “It’s in my hometown. It’s a chance to create something, and to do something worthwhile for charity.”

That local connection runs through her work. Becky describes Dartford as giving her “the best of both worlds” – close enough to London for gigs and city life but with the countryside just around the corner.

“It’s Kent, but we are so near to London,” she says. “I can hop on the train and go to a gig, but then I’ve got a country park just around the corner. I get the best of both really. The city and the countryside.”

That mix of movement and stillness, memory and everyday life sits at the heart of her art.

“I’m heavily inspired by childhood, nostalgia, friendship, nature,” she says. “Just the little pockets of joy in everyday life.”

She is the sort of artist who is always noticing. A flower on a walk. A moment that reminds her of childhood. Something funny, fleeting or familiar that other people might miss.

“I’m constantly taking photos of things,” she says. “Little things just pop up all the time in everyday life that inspire me endlessly,” she says. Those details often find their way into her sketchbooks, and eventually into her illustrations.

“I’m always doodling and scribbling down notes of things and ideas that spark my interest and thinking ‘I’ll make this into an illustration!’

You can feel that instinct in her original bear design, Childlike Wonder, which has now been reimagined as ellenor’s Memory Bear. The sculpture is filled with playful doodles and shapes, carrying echoes of storybooks, childhood creativity and the small visual fragments that we carry with us.

“There was this beautiful synergy,” she says. “My whole concept for the design was just being full of memory and joy and reminiscing. Then to have people’s names be put on it, it just adds that extra layer of meaning to the piece.”

She wanted the design to feel playful, open and generous. Something people could bring their own memories to.

“In my illustration work I love to play with colour and doodle-like motifs, but this is on a much bigger scale,” she says. “I haven’t really done painting in a long time, since working digitally, so it’s nice to go back to something more traditional. I’ll be using spray paints, which I haven’t tried before, but this has kind of given me the chance.”

“I wanted the doodles to match that playful childlike style,” she says. “They’re not really in-depth, detailed, intricate elements. “Doodles that I hope will transport people back to happy memories,” she says.”

And just as importantly, she did not want the Memory Bear to feel closed off or over defined.

“I wanted to keep it general and open,” she says. “It needed to feel like something everyone could connect with and relate to.’

That matters for a sculpture tied to remembrance. Becky spoke about losing her grandad during Covid, when restrictions made an already painful time even harder.

“That was quite hard,” she says. “But we’ve got to the stage where we can look back fondly and not look back painfully.”

That same balance of grief and warmth, loss and colour, sorrow and joy runs through the bear. Becky describes the black base of the design as something deeper with pastel colour bursting with the joy and vibrancy of those fond childhood moments.

“It makes something beautiful out of something dark,” she says.

When she first read the brief, one line stayed with her: that the bear was the perfect fit for hospice care. She understood it immediately.

“It really is,” she says. “With the story of the bear hunt, you can’t go over it, you can’t go under it, you have to go through it.”

For people living with a life limiting illness, grief or loss, that feels especially resonant.

“It’s hard,” she says, “and thankfully ellenor is there to help families work through those difficult times.

That is why the art trail matters in a town like Dartford. This is not art behind gallery walls. It will sit out in the open, in familiar places, where people pass by every day.

“I love art galleries,” Becky says, “but I know they can feel like, ‘Should I be here?”

Out on the streets, she says, things feel different. “The art comes to the people here. It’s in familiar settings and brings people in the community together and allows people to experience and engage with art in ways they maybe haven’t been able to before.”

That accessibility is part of what makes public art so powerful. Families might stop because a bear catches their eye, because a child likes the colours, because the design feels playful or familiar. And from there, something deeper may begin.

“I think this does give such a good opportunity,” Becky says.

“You can talk about death and hospices more openly.”

For ellenor, that is one of the hopes behind the trail: that it helps people see hospice care differently and opens up conversations that can otherwise feel difficult to start. For Becky, being part of that in Dartford makes it feel all the more important.

“It’s unique to Dartford,” she says. “And it’s unique to ellenor. So this is really, really important.”

Mark Hart is Joint Managing Director at Barnes Construction. He agrees with Becky’s feelings saying, “Sponsoring the Memory Bear as part of ellenor’s ‘Going on a Bear Hunt’ trail was important to us. We feel that the hospice’s place in the local community goes beyond just bricks and mortar, providing a haven that improves quality of life and a place for peace and strength.”

After the trail, Becky’s Memory Bear will remain with ellenor not just as a work of art but holding the names and memories of people they love. Adding a name allows families to honour loved ones in a special way, while also supporting other families going through difficult times.

“It would be so nice if it can make even the smallest difference to how someone feels,” she says.

For ellenor, and for the people it supports, that matters.

And for the people who see it, it can matter more than it seems.