A CREATIVE teenager has been keeping herself busy during the lockdown by painting rainbows and cartoon characters to raise money for the NHS.

Carrie Price, 13, let her imagination fly after seeing images of animated characters on Instagram, and decided that it would be a good idea to paint these characters onto logs of wood and display them for sale at the front of the family home with a request for voluntary donations to support the NHS.

The current total raised is now £1,200. Carrie said: “I thought it would be a nice idea to try and support the NHS in these times. I’ve painted cartoon characters, rainbows and had over 60 requests for original artwork – so that’s at least 150 logs.

“My special favourites are Tigger and Snoopy, but I’ve also painted a Welsh Dragon and an English Rose. It takes me about an hour to cut, prepare and paint each log.”

Proud mum Nicky feared the venture might not create a lot of interest and raise only a few pounds. But she has been stunned by the volume of requests from passers-by and neighbours on Hook Heath Road.

“Carrie has been super-busy since the lockdown, and once we even ran out of paint,” she said. “What is truly gratifying are the written messages of support. A nurse said ‘I’m front line and love what you are doing, it brightens up my day’. Another happy customer wrote ‘Thank you, your art is beautiful and we’re happy to have the NHS rainbow at the front of our house’.”