The Well residents and staff join forces to spruce-up Barrow centre

Green-fingered residents and workers from The Well have been busy planting shrubs and plants in the town’s high streets.

The initiative, which was in partnership with Barrow BID, aimed to give participants the chance to learn new skills and help give back to the local community.

Duane Gaitskell, activity leader, said: “The activity aimed to give back to the local community, promote good practice and give the participants a chance to learn new skills. We wanted to show our residents and volunteers how rewarding manual work can be, especially when you work together to achieve great results.”

Abbi, one of the residents at Barrow Project, said it was nice to bond with the community during the activity.

She said: “It was nice to bond with the community, I also enjoyed getting thanked by people, who walked by, for the work that we were doing.”

Green-fingered residents and workers from The Well have been busy planting shrubs and plants in the town’s high streets (Image: Newsquest)

The town centre spruce-up comes days after a series of vibrant murals were installed across vacant shop fronts in Portland Walk as part of an artistic project.

Contemporary artist Ian Kirkpatrick, who produced commissions for the London 2012 Olympics, the Tour de France and the Oxford Museum of Natural History, was chosen to design the murals that have been temporarily displayed on the street’s shop fronts.

READ MORE: Splash of colour helps bring Barrow's boarded-up shops back to life

Ian’s designs were inspired by a visit to Barrow where he spent time getting to know local history, as well as the borough’s people, industry and nature.

BarrowFull, who sourced the artist, are exploring the many different kinds of mural that can be created as part of the ‘Paint The Town’ project.

In early 2023, as part of Paint the Town, BarrowFull and Barrow Borough Council invited artists, collectives or companies to design and deliver a number of murals in the street.

There are more than seven shops that are boarded up in Barrow’s Portland Walk, including the former Debenhams, Officers Club, River Island and Body Shop, which have now been given a splash of colour thanks to the artistic project.