Malcolm Rigler, GP at Withymoor Village Surgery in Brierly Hill, said recently: 'The arts are essential to my work as a doctor.'
The lantern procession was warming and spectacular, and lantern-making skills were passed on to the local people, who are now teaching others, towards further celebrations.
And the work continues. Dave Reeves, a poet who lives in Dudley, has started work in the surgery, offering writing advice on anything from letter writing to poetry, from reminiscence to fiction-making. A particular focus of his work will bring together local school pupils and elderly people to exchange, share and begin to articulate in writing their experience of being ill, being cared for, of caring, and of being well.
The longer term aim is to strengthen the curative and information links between the local surgery, other doctors locally, the wider health service, education, the libraries and churches in order to move towards a situation where individuals, families, other groupings and the wider community feel they are, as far as is humanly possible, in control of their own lives, and can promote the health and well-being of their own community.