Many children going to Badger Farm Pre-school in Winchester faced a daily trek through a graffiti-covered underpass just a couple of minutes' walk from the setting. Now the graffiti has gone and the children can enjoy looking at their own artwork as they pass through the subway.
The artwork includes the children's paintings, with houses, flowers, and butterflies, an illustrated number sequence on one wall and alphabet pictures on the other.
The underpass had been an eyesore for all the users of Badger Farm Community Centre, where their pre-school is based, but the idea for transforming it was that of pre-school assistant Jane Foster. She had been involved in a similar project with two local primary schools and approached Hampshire County Council with the suggestion of replicating the pre-school children's artwork on the underpass walls.
'Thankfully, they agreed to fund it,' she says. 'The underpass was quite grim and the project has given the children the opportunity to make a difference to their environment.'
The job of sizing up and copying the children's artwork on to the underpass went to Remchem, whose services include creating anti-graffiti hand-painted murals.
Ms Foster says, 'It has been a fun project and a chance to celebrate our playgroup in a permanent way while improving and updating the subway for all to enjoy, not least our little ones! They loved doing the paintings and now enjoy seeing their artwork every day.
'Staff and parents were delighted with the end result and local residents and parish councillors have been very supportive, with great feedback on the difference it's made to the local environment.'
The artwork is glazed with an anti-graffiti coating but has remained untouched since it was installed. Ms Foster says, 'People tend to respect it because it has the children's artwork.'
