Pensioners Paint the Town Green!
The elusive Banksy may have become a household name with his satirical street art – but there’s now a new generation of ‘grey graffiti’ artists, as a group of older residents have taken to their spray cans in Manchester.
Concerned older residents, from Levenshulme have been using their ‘art’ for good use – using specially designed biodegradable paint to highlight what they think could cause trip or mobility issues in the community.
Instead of spraying walls, they have been pounding pavements as they ring or highlight spots that they feel could cause difficulties older or more vulnerable people. The group, who range in age from 50-80 years old, are all linked to Manchester’s Age Friendly team, which aims to raise the profile and concerns of older people in Manchester. The Age Friendly Manchester team also work very closely with NHS colleagues in the three Manchester Clinical Commissioning Groups on projects that help with health and wellbeing in the over 50s.
Carol Kryne, Chairperson of the Inspire Trust force- which is looking at ways of making the town more accessible for older people- is one of the people who will be on the pavement beat. She said: “Pavements are dangerous in Levenshulme, as a group we’d highlight these zones by spraying them in fluorescent green paint.”
“The paint is biodegradable which means once the council have done the repairs it can be removed and will no harm the environment.”
She added: “There are serious consequences if people fall over, particularly old people, as they struggle to get back up or call for help if they need it.”
There are currently eight people in the group and they have reported all of the dangerous zones on the council webpage in order to see some action from the council.
Councillor Paul Andrews, Executive Member for Adult Health and Wellbeing at Manchester City Council, said: “This is art with heart. It’s really gratifying to see communities getting involved in looking after one another. We all know that prevention is better than cure – and a simple move like this could help people who are not as confident on their feet, or perhaps have limited vision.”
By Inzy Rashid