AS A voluntary act of service to the local community, a band of youngsters from the Jesus Army in Northampton recently painted murals on both sides of a local subway.

Leader of the council-backed project, Ian Oakey commented: "We wanted to create something that would last and that people would remember why it had been done. It was also important for us to complete the project with the ideas and help from local youths, enabling them to have ownership of the achievement. As the local church we wanted to present an image of hope - that the normal downward spiral of criminal life that is all too common on an estate like ours can be escaped".

One of the murals was comic stripstyle showing a character reforming from a life of crime to a family man with a sense of responsibility (see below). The other was a memorial to three young people from the area who died recently.

One local commented: "This is a great idea, really colourful and eye-catching; and it's touching to see those lads who died remembered like this."

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