Leominster Primary School pupils winning artwork is featured at local veterans housing scheme
Five children from Leominster Primary School are celebrating, after being selected to have their art featured on the hoarding around a housing scheme for veterans, which is currently under construction in Herefordshire.
More than 50 children entered the design competition that was organised by leading housing provider Stonewater. The winning art created by Holly Pugh, Wiktoria Labuda, Elise Hancock, Lilly Whippman and Kacey Talbot has been featured around the Waterworks Lane development, which is expected to be completed later this year.
The brief given to the children by Stonewater, gave entrants two weeks to design a poster that incorporated the theme of veterans and the Royal British Legion – one of several key partners in the project – to demonstrate what the project aims to do.
Currently, there are up to nine veterans receiving training and support, all of whom have been introduced to the project by homeless charity Albaré, working alongside Stonewater’s local contractor – J Harper & Sons (Leominster) Ltd – to build the 19 homes on Waterworks Lane. Once completed, in addition to gaining valuable and transferable skills, the veterans working on site will also be able to rent one of the brand-new homes.
The community self-build project is the first of its kind for Stonewater and has received a great amount of support from local businesses and organisations. For Stonewater, involving members of the younger generation too was an important factor and so, the competition was a great opportunity to not only include the primary school, but also educate the children on how communities can work together to overcome any challenges in their area.
Clare Bray, Development Manager at Stonewater, said: “It was a pleasure to receive so many entries from the children at Leominster Primary School and see that so many of them had also learned something, while also getting the chance to show off their artistic skills.
We recognise that while a development is under construction it doesn’t always look very attractive, so we wanted to make the most of the space and present it in a way that would mean anyone walking past the scheme would also understand what it is we’re trying to achieve. I’d like to thank everyone that took part and congratulate, once again, the five winners for their great work.”
Councillor Barry Durkin, Herefordshire Council, added: “I am delighted that the community self-build project has received a great amount of support from local businesses and organisations and that so many young people were inspired with the competition to design a poster that incorporated the theme of veterans and the Royal British Legion. The concept was challenging and the young people rose to the task. Thanks to Leominster Primary School pupils for getting involved with the project and submitting so many pieces of really good artwork for the competition. Well done to the five winners. I’m looking forward to viewing the display of artwork during my next visit to the site.”
Helen Rees, Deputy Head Teacher at Leominster Primary School, said: “As a school we were delighted to be involved in this great opportunity to work on this fantastic community self-build project. It gave our children the chance to contribute to the Leominster community and learn about the how communities can work together and the contributions our service personnel make.”