Whitby giant sand drawing: Identity of real-life nurse is revealed

Members of the Hebden Bridge-based company Sand In Your Eye - who famously worked with film director Danny Boyle in 2018 to create dozens of images of First World War soldiers on British beaches to commemorate the Armistice centenary - were in Whitby last Wednesday for their latest assignment.

A team of six spent five hours creating a drawing depicting ICU nurse Paula Burrows wearing a face covering made up of lines that are 2m apart and contained within a coronavirus cell, alongside the text: “2m. Together we protect each other.”

Paula is the sister-in-law of company founder Jamie Wardley and she works at a hospital in Oldham on the coronavirus frontline.

The drawing was - appropriately - created while the artists followed social distancing guidelines with the image of the completed drawing captured through the use of a drone.  

Jamie Wardley, from Sand in Your Eye, said: “The sand drawing is a stark reminder that the virus is still with us and that we must try and adhere to hygiene and social distancing measures to keep ourselves and others safe.”

Their latest project is support by tourist agency Welcome to Yorkshire, which is working to kickstart the region’s £9bn visitor economy after months of lockdown.

Billions of pounds have been lost to the local economy as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with tourism normally employing around 225,000 people in the region. Whitby is among the places that has been hardest hit as it is normally bustling with visitors from far and wide during the spring and summer months.

James Mason, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “Now that lockdown is beginning to ease, hospitality and tourism will have an opportunity to regenerate and hopefully we can all start to get our lives back on track.

“Yorkshire is blessed with so many beautiful tourist destinations such as Whitby and we need visitors to help maintain our local economies.

“However, as the drawing clearly states, we need to do this responsibly.”

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