Cllr Anne Walsh talking about the new mural in Biddick Hall

Cllr Anne Walsh has championed a project to have a new mural created in Biddick Hall.

Transcript

00:00 The mural came about, it's been on my bucket list for a long, long time.

00:05 It came about just before lockdown.

00:08 I could see that it didn't feel a safe place to walk through, especially if you're a young

00:15 family or young mums or a young person walking through here.

00:21 It was quite intimidating and a bit unkept, if you like.

00:25 So I thought about it and I thought, right, I'm going to get the HUT involved.

00:31 They're based on Tudor Reed site, been there for many, many years.

00:36 I thought, the young people, they do get a bad press, the young people on the estate

00:42 and in the borough are really a good set of young people who are creative, who enjoy doing

00:51 all kinds of projects and that's all based from the HUT.

00:55 So they're aged from between 13 and 16.

00:58 So yes, so 2019, I looked at the CAF scheme, got South Tyneside Homes involved and decided

01:08 that we could fund it.

01:10 So we had a great artist working for South Tyneside Homes, Gavin, who's doing murals

01:14 in the town and collectively with youth services, we came together, engaged with the young people

01:20 and that happened after COVID.

01:22 So in the summer, the project started and people are on the estate, absolutely delighted

01:29 with it and think it's a great asset to the estate.

01:32 I often come down with the dog weekends just to check that it's still okay.

01:38 We did have a little problem with fly tipping, but it just lifts the whole area.

01:44 We've got the beautiful nature reserve and it's a wonderful entrance to go up to the

01:50 Metro station at Brockley Winds.

01:52 Obviously Chloe and Liam feature in the mural as well, among many other links to South Tyneside.

01:57 How important was it to have them in the mural?

01:59 It was really important to have Chloe and Liam in the mural.

02:02 They're linked to the estate.

02:05 They're never to be forgotten, ever to be forgotten.

02:08 And young people still often think about them, they're educated about what actually happened

02:15 and will never forget what happened to Chloe and Liam.

02:19 And the town will always embrace them and they will never ever be forgotten.

02:23 And that is just proof that you pass them by as you're going on your journey.

02:29 So yeah, and Little Mix as well, we've got Little Mix there as well.