MORE than 20 children from two south Hereford schools busied themselves during half term with a hands on community environmental project that involved creating a ten metre long mural to cover graffiti on the city's well-used Drybridge underpass.

South Wye and Belmont Community Environmental Officer Richard Fishbourne was 'really pleased to see local kids getting their teeth into something essentially belonging to them' and the project was deemed 'a real success' by passers by.

Ideas

The inspiration for the mural came from the area stretching between Belmont and Rotherwas. Younger children from Haywood Junior School had helped out with ideas even if they couldn't get involved with the actual painting.

A key element to the project was the involvement of several of Hereford's street artists, who Richard had contacted through the medium of street art by putting up posters of the artists' signature works in the underpass itself.

"The involvement of these artists will act as protection for the mural," Richard said. "Hereford is a tight knit community, even in terms of street art, and these artists have respect for one another's work and will not want to destroy it."

Talent

"If the council was slightly more forward thinking in its approach, perhaps providing a wall specifically for street art, they would probably be surprised how street artists would focus their talents on that space."

This is just one aspect arising from the project that Richard hopes to carry forward.

Funding for the project, which employed the skills of local artist Tracy Shough and used organically produced watercolour paints, came from a variety of sources including the Community Pride Fund, the Elmley Small Grants Arts Fund, West Midlands Arts Fund and Hereford City Small Projects Fund.