Southsea artist creates fundraising picture to promote unity in coronavirus outbreak

Roma-May Daly, 28 from Southsea, has been an artist for the past 10 years.

Now, she has put her efforts towards The News’ fundraising campaign for Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham.

Her artwork, along with pieces from My Dog Sighs and Fark, will be auctioned off for the Help Our QA Heroes fund.

Roma-May’s contribution is a watercolour piece with a group of people holding hands in a circle, symbolising our unity during the coronavirus pandemic.

She said: ‘I wanted to do something about togetherness and community, despite the fact that some of us are quite far apart from our friends and families.

‘I heard about the appeal in The News and was keen to get involved.

‘There are quite a few keyworkers in my family so I’ve seen how the pandemic has affected people on the front line.’

The Help Our QA Heroes fund has raised more than £22,000 so far for Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust staff who are working around the clock in difficult circumstances.

Roma-May, who posts all of her work onto her Instagram account, spent roughly five hours putting the piece together.

She is a successful illustrator, whose commissions include packaging for Nespresso and Hampshire Constabulary’s child sexual exploitation campaign, #CSEHelpMe.

She said: ‘There are a lot of good things happening across Portsmouth at the moment and I think it’s important to highlight that.

‘But at the same time there are people who aren’t going by the rules and having large gatherings, like down at the seafront.

‘The thing with unity is that we’re all in this together – we have to stay strong and support each other.’

A running theme through recent submissions to the campaign is the idea of looking after our environment.

Commenting on his own piece earlier this month, Fark talked about how Mother Nature is looking better than ever.

Now, in the wake of the bank holiday weekend, Roma-May,

is calling for people to take better care of where they live.

She said: ‘Seeing pictures of the seafront this past week made me so upset; we have to do better.’

To get involved in the campaign, or to put in a bid for the artwork, email [email protected].

n Discover the artistic world of Roma-May Daly on Instagram @romamaydesign