FARNHAM Maltings has announced a new project in partnership with British textile artist Alice Kettle that celebrates the centre’s contribution to the shape and character of the town.

’Stitching Together’ is part of the Future Arts Centres’ Here & Now Project celebrating 25 years of the National Lottery.

The Maltings is collecting drawings from Farnham schoolchildren that will later be interpreted in stitch and incorporated into a larger design created by Alice, a professor of textile art at Manchester School of Art.

A Maltings spokesman said: "The project and resulting artwork places an emphasis on the ‘everydayness of craft’ and offers an opportunity to work with people and communities within our network, and the wider reach of the town.

"We chose to work with Alice because of her experience in working with communities as central to her practice as an artist."

Working with local schools the Maltings is collecting drawings from children that will be interpreted by Alice and reimagined in stitch on fabric by local community groups and the general public.

Primary school children are encouraged to look at their local landscape and the world around them, flora and fauna, their home, their town. Secondary school children are being asked to draw symbols and images of contemporary life such as graffiti, signs, people, food or whatever else strikes them.

The individual stitched designs will be incorporated into a larger design created by Alice that uses bright colours to represent the landscape and town of Farnham. The completed artwork will be a series of textile banners that can be hung together as a single piece, or separately in different spaces.

The deadline for submitting drawings is Thursday, April 30.