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Town mural to feature in TV stop smoking campaign

Eleanor MaslinEast Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
News imagePete Spurr A colourful mural on two sides of a wall depicts a dark and lighter side. On the right is a woman with blonde hair smiling, blue skies, sun, flowers and birds behind her. On the left is a man holding his head in his hands with words including 'cancer, stress, no, health' written in a lung-diagram on a dark blue background. A man is stood in-between the two walls in a green coat, grey meanie, mask and holding a paint can.Pete Spurr
Local artist Stake Art created the mural on a street corner in Grimsby

A mural on a street corner in Grimsby will be featured in a TV campaign to help people stop smoking.

Turn The Corner, which shows a "movement from dark to light", has been created over five days on Castle Street by a local artist who goes by the name of Stake Art.

Stake said: "It doesn't always have to have a message. It can just be pleasing to the eye."

The mural will be featured as the backdrop for a TV advert about a local woman's story in giving up smoking which is due to air from 8 April.

The artwork, was funded by 15 local authorities across Yorkshire and the Humber and supported by recovery and arts organisation Creative Starts in Health.

Stake said he got straight to work after he was given a sketch and a rundown of what the mural was intended to be.

For five days, he started working on the artwork at about 10:00 GMT, after doing the school run, and finished at about 17:00, he added.

News imagePete Spurr A colourful mural on two sides of a wall depicts a dark and lighter side. On the right is a woman with blonde hair smiling, blue skies, sun, flowers and birds behind her. On the left is a man holding his head in his hands with words including 'cancer, stress, no, health' written in a lung-diagram on a dark blue background. A man is standing in-between the two walls in a green coat, grey meanie, mask and holding a paint can.Pete Spurr
Stake Art said he spoke to people a lot while creating the mural as it was on a busy road

The mural was completed in time for No Smoking Day on Wednesday, an NHS initiative encouraging people to quit smoking.

"The deadline was the most challenging because it had to be done by today," he said.

"With the short amount of time that I had, I was happy with it.

"Whether there's a deadline or not, completing them is always a good feeling."

Stake described the mural as "a movement from negative to positive", which depicted "someone who is better in their life with a bit of help".

Sam Delaney from Creative Start, which is part of the Paint The Town Proud mural initiative, said the artwork "visually contrasts the harms of smoking with a more hopeful message about support to quit and a brighter, healthier, smokefree future."

A North East Lincolnshire Council spokesperson said: "We're thrilled that Grimsby has been chosen as the backdrop for the TV advert set to launch early April, following the story of a local woman's journey to a smoke-free life and the future she is now looking forward to."

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