Community designed fox mural unveiled at Branksome Centre

'The fox' was officially unveiled during a ceremony at the Branksome Centre on Recreation Road. 

Painted by local artist Krishna Malla, aka Tech Moon, the 3D design was inspired by children at Heatherlands Primary School who were tasked with coming up with ideas.

Krishna said it was ‘great’ to have the input from the children.

“Kids are always creative, and they come up with cool ideas,” he said.

“They knew the area better than I did, so they knew what they wanted to see here. And then taking the idea of a fox and running with this.”

• Read more: BEAF and Bournemouth Coastal BID help to produce striking artwork

He said the design was a mix of different artistic styles, mixing classic art with modern street art and graffiti.

The ‘sculpture’ along the bottom of the mural spells out Branksome, something which Krishna said was meant to be obscure.

Bea Collis, assistant headteacher of Heatherlands, said: “The children really enjoyed taking part in the project from the beginning because they were involved in coming up with the ideas.”

Local ward councillors Tony Trent and Millie Earl, whose wards meet at the recreation ground, were glowing in their praise of the mural.

• Read more: Huge mural making a splash on Southbourne public toilets

“I think it is excellent,” Cllr Trent said.

“When I drive down recreation road, it stands out, it’s really vivid.”

Cllr Earl said the idea to paint the mural on the wall came to help give the area its identity.

“[The wall] was looking a bit mucky and there were footballs being kicked at it all the time,” she said.

“It was really about what do we do with it, to make it something for the community.”

Funding for the mural came through the council community infrastructure levy, which is sourced through developers.

“Credit to Krishna, on the quality of his work and the quality of his design and just how striking and amazing it is,” Cllr Earl said.

Co-manager of the Branksome Centre, Kayla Mares, said that for her and her colleague Jade Tidbury, the mural was a ‘win-win’.

“I couldn’t be more pleased,” Kayla said.

“It helped protect our building and it brought the community together, so it was an obvious choice for us to do.

“To get the school involved that is just down the street, to feel like they’ve helped design it, it’s really reinvigorated the community.”