Atom Smith Lemon

Artist Annie Nicholson believes a good place to start a conversation about Loss is over a scoop of Ice Cream . Her work has centred around Grief since losing members of her family in a tragic accident 11 years ago.

Mini milks, choc ices, a 99 with a flake - and a chat about Loss .

The sweet, soft, sugary taste of Ice Cream does not usually sit alongside The Pain and devastation of Grief . Yet Annie Nicholson's Ice Cream van was designed to break a taboo.

Annie , 38, from London, had The idea for The Van when The Covid pandemic struck. She wanted to encourage conversations about Grief - Something she already had experience of.

On 4 October 2011, Annie woke up in The Night . She'd had a Bad Dream and turned on her phone.

" I had so many missed calls, " she says. " This had already been on The News . All these people telling me that they were sorry. I didn't know what they were sorry for.

" It was just unreal. Someone tells you your whole life as you know it is over and you can't compute that. "

Four members of Annie 's Immediate Family had been involved in a tragic accident in New York .

Her parents, Harriet and Paul, had travelled there to celebrate her sister Sonia's 40th birthday. Sonia was in The City with her partner, Helen.

" It was a surprise for Sonia that my parents were going, " says Annie - who had also been due to fly out, along with her sister Amanda. But , because of work commitments, both had to cancel at The Last minute.

Harriet, Paul, Sonia and Helen had boarded a helicopter to take a sightseeing trip around The City - But just after Take Off , The aircraft crashed into The East River .

Paul had been sitting in The Front . After freeing himself from The Wreckage , he tried to search for His Family in The blackness of The River .

" They had to pull him out of The water in The End because he just wouldn't leave them, " says Annie .

Sonia had died instantly, while Helen and Harriet were taken to hospital. A week later, Helen died. Harriet died four weeks after that.

Paul had been diagnosed with terminal cancer several years before The New York trip. He survived The Accident , But died in 2016.

The Accident flipped Annie 's life Upside Down .

" I wasn't sure if I was going to Survive This sadness of losing them, " she says, " because it really was so brutal and so many people that loved me unconditionally were actually dead. "

For a long while, Annie felt unable to make art and instead worked as A Teacher . But gradually she returned to it, and during The pandemic in 2021 she bought her van and chose to Focus On Ice Cream .

Annie describes herself as The " Fandangoe Kid" after The affectionate nicknames her parents used to call her. Her candy coloured van became known as The " Fandangoe Whip". She took it - complete with a loudspeaker playing a welcoming jingle - to art galleries, festivals and parks.

" In The packaging of The Ice Cream we'd have questions around Grief and Loss , and how you've managed 2020 and The pandemic. . questions to prompt people. " After that, those who wanted to could open up about deeper feelings or sign up for workshops run by trained professionals.

" We've all experienced a Loss of sorts in The Last couple of years, " says Annie , " and that doesn't necessarily have to be a bereavement even. It can be a Loss of lifestyle, But we've all experienced a real kind of derailing from previous lives. "

It is important to have coping mechanisms and ways of gently talking about it all, says Annie , and Ice Cream is a great way to bring this about.

" It's ageless and classless, " she says.

The Van toured from June to October 2021. Some of The Ice Cream flavours - Lemon and buttermilk, coffee and Earl Grey Tea - were provided by a local Portuguese restaurant. That connection was all The more special because Annie 's parents had lived in southern Portugal and, after Family Meals , they would often walk to The Local Ice Cream parlour.

" Getting a scoop of Ice Cream and walking along The seafront was a real mark of togetherness, " she says.

After The Van 's success, Annie wanted to continue her work on a bigger, more sustainable scale. The " Fandangoe Skip" was created, an Ice Cream kiosk that looks like two Skips - One upturned on top of The Other .

It appeared in Canary Wharf and on The Greenwich Peninsula in London this Summer - And Then a new incarnation of it appeared thousands of Miles Away .

On The Anniversary of The fatal helicopter crash in October, a Fandangoe Skip was Set Up in Lower Manhattan opposite The World Trade Center. It resembled a North American version of a skip, known as a dumpster.

It was " very much a Full Circle journey" says Annie .

Skips , or dumpsters, are places where you can offload things, says Annie , and metaphorically it was a place to offload emotions.

A Brooklyn-based company made The crumbled cookies and cream, salt-kissed caramel, and summertime strawberry-flavoured ice creams.

Annie 's partner, writer Lara Haworth, ran a " letters that will never be sent" workshop. People could write letters to a lost loved ones or those who had broken their hearts.

At night, tunes like Mr Brightside by The Killers and Ed Sheeran 's Galway Girl filled The Air - as Annie hosted " Grief raves" where people could play music that reminded them of those " they had loved and lost in any capacity".

It was All In honour of Annie 's sister Sonia who " loved a good dance move and a good mix tape".

The Grief raves have fed into Annie 's next project - The Fandangoe Discoteca. A touring mini club that encourages movement and dance as a way of maintaining good Mental Health .

" We're holding so much in our daily lives at The Moment , " says Annie , " and I can't remember a time when we were holding more in my lifetime.

" So it's a way to come together without necessarily being expected to talk. I do know in trauma that movement therapy is such a valuable opportunity for Letting Go of some of those feelings. "

When she first started out as an artist, Annie never intended to Focus On Loss - But she now wants to help as many people as possible find ways to express feelings of Grief .

" In many ways, " says Annie , " my work has been a Love Letter to [My Family 's] legacy over The Past decade. "

Source of news: bbc.com