Beautiful new wall mural unveiled in St Leonards

It was created by acclaimed local artist Carne Griffiths with the help of Seaview Project service users. The mural was funded by local grant making trust Magdalen and Lasher.

The Seaview Centre provides help for people who are homeless, insecurely housed, or living on the margins of society

At an official opening ceremony on Thursday last week (September 17), Carne Griffiths and the service users who helped create the mural spoke about the inspiration behind the artwork, how the project came together and what being involved has meant to them.

Carne said: “This was quite a large-scale project for me. The piece is a representation of what may have been here before the whole area of St Leonards was developed. We are in a valley there would almost certainly have been a stream running through to the sea.

“Everyone came together for this project and put ideas together. The key element was nature. Service users made suggestions as to what should be in the piece. I made a sketch then we came out here and created the mural all together.

"I got to meet so many interesting people who told me about their journeys and how Seaview had helped them. They poured their skills and talent into creating this mural. When you get close up you can see all these little gems of detail that represent people who have contributed to the mural.”

One of the service users said: "One of the nicest things was when people who live nearby would stop and look. They gave us lots of comments and feedback on how much it brightened up the area and how much they appreciated it. That was one of the high points for me.”

Sue Burgess, from the Seaview Centre, said: “What makes this project particularly special is that service users have been involved at every stage – from developing the design and preparing the wall, to getting stuck in with the painting itself. Their creativity, ideas and hard work are now permanently part of our community.”