Rainbow Bridge

During the first lockdown, in March 2020, we were inspired by the rainbows we passed on our walks through the neighbourhood. Local children has painted them over doors, windows and pavements.

It was the way they flooded the streets with colour, and the free, easy style of their painting that really moved us. The children wanted to be seen by, and to communicate their message of hope with, the people on the streets.

The location for this piece was the aptly dubbed ‘Scary Bridge’. Not far from our headquarters, we’d watched taggers, graffiti painters and grey council paint battle for dominance of this unusual canvass for the last 20 years. We decided to shake things up, by painting a long rainbow, running the whole way down the bridge. We were particularly interested in creating something that fitted the bridge’s gentle curves and which could highlighting how rainbows are also bridges.

During the second lockdown, we asked 300 children from two local primary schools to get involved, encouraging them to add their own rainbows. As a finishing touch, we worked with a group of eight local activists and guerrilla gardeners to replace two fly-tipping areas at each end with community gardens, a project that is still going - and growing - strong. Visit the Friends of Rainbow Bridge for the latest information.