BARNSLEY FC CREATION FOR NHS HEROES

May 2020

BARNSLEY FC’s official artist teamed up with a star from a different sporting sphere to raise cash for charity.

Ben Mosley, who has produced several pieces for the club including a 60-metre mural in the Pontefract Road End, joined Rugby World Cup winner Mike Tindall to support several charities. The Barnsley season ticket holder, born in Hertfordshire after his Cudworth-born father uprooted to move there, produced a new painting which paid tribute to NHS and key workers in his characteristic style.

‘The Stadium of Life’ was auctioned off to raise money for NHS Charities Together, and two charities close to Mike’s heart – The Cure Parkinson’s Trust and Matt Hampson Foundation for seriously injured young sportsmen and women.

Ben, who was also selected as one of Team GB’s artists for the then-delayed Olympics in Tokyo, said: “The NHS and the key workers have done an amazing job saving lives and keeping us fed and safe since Covid-19 became a national and global pandemic.

“I appreciate that the painting shows a crowd of people coming together in a stadium, which is not something we can do at present physically, but it is the spirit of the public and the feeling of gratitude and pride that we have for our NHS and brave key workers that I wanted to capture. I felt a crowd celebrating in a stadium was the best way I could depict this in a way that people could relate to. Sports stadiums are where heroes are made and celebrated throughout all of time.

“In the painting I wanted to give the nurses, doctors and all the other key workers a platform where they could be remembered by future generations as heroes for saving countless lives in years to come.”