Hedgehog painting by Mile Cross group brightens up estate

Alison McClagish has lived in Mile Cross all her life and is part of community group, MXPEG and its sub-group, Green Hearts.

The group looks to spruce up the various communal spaces around Mile Cross with flower planting, litter picking and more recently, painting.

The telecom box is located in between Bignold Road and Lefroy Road in Mile Cross (Image: Alison McClagish)

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Alison, 39, wanted to add a bit of colour to the area and started with a dreary looking telecom box, in an alley nicknamed “hedgehog alley”, between Bignold Road nad Lefroy Road.

After getting permission from the Openreach, who owns the box, Alison and her friend, Chrissy Brightmore, got to work.

Alison and Chrissy started work on the telecom box last week and spent around 20 hours painting it (Image: Alison McClagish)
Alison is part of the local community group, MXPEG and its sub-group, MX Green Hearts (Image: Alison McClagish)

Alison said: “I came up with the design because the alley provides a nice walkway for hedgehogs to access people’s gardens.

“Me and my friend Chrissy, who runs an arts and crafts group at the Phoenix Centre, spent about 20 hours sanding, priming, painting and varnishing the box over four days.

“We finished it this week and I’m very pleased with how it’s turned out.

Chrissy Brightmore, left and Alison McClagish, right behind the finished project (Image: Alison McClagish)
Alison said the public reaction has been really positive (Image: Alison McClagish)

“It’s added some colour and vibrancy to a drab box and it didn’t take much work – it’s better than it being covered in chewing gum and bird poo.

“The best thing about it is the people reacting to it – the reaction from everyone has been really positive.”

The project has prompted Alison to cover more of Mile Cross in colour.

The project has prompted Alison to definitely look at other ways to brighten up the area (Image: Alison McClagish)

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She added: “I definitely want to do more painting to brighten up the neighbourhood.

“Mile Cross gets a bad rep but I love it and hopefully this will teach people to respect where they live.

“If everywhere could do something like this, the city would look a lot nicer.”