A member of the Pinner Sketch Club has tried to lift the spirits of NHS staff by taking part in the ‘Portraits for NHS Heroes’ initiative that was initially set up in April by artist Thomas Croft.
Claire (Zammit) Linge saw the initiative online and thought it was a great idea and something personal that she could do to show her appreciation to everyone at the NHS.
It is a way to celebrate the NHS staff and Mr Croft felt it was also a way to immortalise them but admitted in an interview with the BBC that it had gone way above his expectations.
Artists can put a post on social media saying they are taking part in the initiative and staff at the NHS can receive a portrait for free based on a first come first serve basis.
Speaking to PinnerNews, Claire said: “It’s an amazing thing and it keeps getting bigger and bigger. I have many friends who work at the NHS in different roles, so I really wanted to do something personal.
“Within 10 minutes I received my first reply and since then have had even more people wanting one, so I’m doing five portraits in total.
“The first was a woman called Lisa who is an NHS researcher and she was absolutely thrilled with the final piece and it was so nice that she really appreciated it.”
Other members from the Pinner Sketch Club are now taking part after the treasurer found out about the initiative and urged fellow members to take part.
The club have been forced to cancel a few events due to the coronavirus outbreak but are still communicating online.
Speaking to the BBC, Thomas Croft said: “I think when the lockdown first started, I was really struggling to focus and find a point to my portraiture, and then I thought the people who actually deserve a portrait are all the heroes on the frontline at the NHS.”
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