Burnley youngsters cover grey metal shop shutters with colourful murals (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Burnley youngsters cover grey metal shop shutters with colourful murals

5:08pm Thursday 17th May 2012 in News By Chris Adams

YOUNGSTERS have been encouraged to add splashes of colour to the shutters of shops on their Burnley estate.

Local artist Mark Cameron, New Palace House and members of the Woodbine Tenants’ Association worked together to help them put positive graffiti on shopfronts of four businesses on Anglesey Avenue.

Residents held a workshop last October and invited local children to brainstorm their ideas for art designs.

Now the fruits of their labour are plain for all to see as a range of images based on local themes now adorn the shutters.

The art work is based on themes including Burnley Town Hall, Gawthorpe Hall and Burnley Football Club.

Julie Cooke, chair of the New Palace House and Woodbine Tenants Association, said: “The children thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

They’ve put in a lot of hard work, and have helped brighten up their local area significantly.

“As a group, we work constantly to improve the area.”

There is also a recurring Welsh theme, as many of the street names in the area have a Welsh origin, including Anglesey Avenue itself, Cardigan Avenue and Radnor Avenue.

The same children who instigated the ideas were then invited back to help put their own finishing touches to the designs.

More than 25 people were involved in the project.

Mark Cameron, from the Best joined up art company, helped the kids fine-tune their designs.

“We all had really good fun. It was an area that really needed brightening up and the kids have helped do that,” said Mark, from Rosehill.

“It was certainly interesting to watch them play about with the paint. I’ve been working with kids for 20 years and it’s always a joy.”

Two of the four businesses are currently unused, with the other two housing the association’s offices and the Community Link centre.

As well as raising money themselves, Burnley housing group Calico Homes helped the residents gain funding over the past 14 months.