Artwork highlights problem of air pollution around London’s schools

A striking new addition appeared on the fence of Kingswood Primary School’s upper site in Gipsy Hill this week.

The brightly-coloured signs celebrate clean air and highlight the invisible problem of air pollution.

The work of art, a collaboration between the children of Year 3, artist Linett Kamala and grassroots campaign organisation Mums for Lungs uses calligraffiti, a mix of calligraphy and graffiti to draw attention to the importance of clean air on little lungs.

The artwork, at the school in Gipsy Road, Norwood, was a response to the high levels of air pollution that children are exposed to in schools in London.

Recent research by the Mayor’s office shows that 98 per cent of schools in the capital are exposed to levels of air pollution exceeding the World Health Organisation’s limit, compared to 24 per cent outside London.

Children in Owl, the school’s Year 3, were already very knowledgeable about how vital it is for Londoners to reduce how much they drive, and to scoot, walk or cycle instead. “We always walk to school,” said one seven-year-old, “and we try to keep away from the pollution on the road.”

“It’s important children know about the risk to their health from air pollution,” said Claire McDonald, a local parent who ran the pollution workshop as a volunteer for Mums For Lungs.

“Air pollution affects all of us, but particularly children, who breathe faster and deeper than adults, and are closer to car exhausts.”

Linett Kamala, the artist, enjoyed working with the children, giving them an opportunity to communicate with a wider audience, using their own words and poems they had written.

She said; “I’m really concerned about the impact of air pollution on children’s lungs, so I was really happy to get involved with this collaboration.

“Art is a great way to initiate a conversation with children, and by hanging the art work on the school fence, facing the traffic, we have a chance of continuing that conversation with a different audience.”

It’s the third in a series of art works that Mums For Lungs have done, celebrating the expansion of the Mayor’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez), introduced at the end of October.

The charge means that many of London’s most polluting cars are no longer on the roads, making the air much cleaner for children’s lungs.

For more information go to https://www.mumsforlungs.org/