In February 2022, fashion house Burberry, style magazine The Face, The National Literacy Trust and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford teamed up with pupils of a North London Primary School on an art-led storytelling project in Tottenham which aimed to make children the heroes of their own stories centred on a giant mural called ‘Dreamscapes’ supported by a limited edition zine.
Working with agency dentusMB, the initiative aimed to further inspire young storytellers and promote England forward Rashford’s pioneering work to improve children’s literacy through his ‘Marcus Rashford Book Club’
The community mural itself is a striking collage of words and images created by schoolchildren themselves and it seeks to encourage young people to nurture the power of their imagination and ‘Be The Hero Of Your Own Story’.
A team at agency DentsuMB UK co-ordinated the production and implementation of the work in collaboration with Burberry, The Face, Vizeum Global, plus photographer Campbell Addy and artist Tegen Williams and the artwork was amplified across the brand ad player’s social media platforms.
A further strand of the initiative saw Burberry and The Face celebrate the project through a limited-edition zine-cum-poster-book entitled ‘Dreamscapes’.
The A2 zine featured colourful imaginings of pupils at a primary school in North London, who have benefited directly from Rashford’s scheme in partnership with the National Literacy Trust and was printed in a limited-edition run of 1000 copies which were distributed to a select network of art and community spaces in local Tottenham community spaces and other locations in London and Manchester.
The zine showcases the work of the children from Holmleigh Primary School in North London: one of the schools supported by the initiative which first launched in November 2021. Working with multidisciplinary artist Tegen Williams, Burberry and The Face co-hosted workshops with groups in years three and six to support kids to creatively express their dreams and to encourage the students to think beyond their everyday reality.
The project asked each pupil to sketch and write about themselves as the heroes of their own futures. This is the artwork which makes up the pages of the zine, alongside collages by Tegen Williams and imagery from the launch of the charity initiative shot by Campbell Addy.
The drawings were then reimagined in a ‘tapestry of imagination’ by Williams and then were painted to form a mural in the children’s neighbourhood on Tottenham High Road (London).
The children’s artwork were also displayed in the windows of several local shops including Artwords on Broadway Market, MagCulture on St John’s Street & Unit on Steven Square.
“It has been incredible supporting Burberry on their journey with Marcus Rashford and delivering bespoke environments to bring the initiatives to life in the heart of the community,” said dentsuMB Managing Partner Balpreet Mangat.
“We were so proud to partner once more with Marcus Rashford MBE and charities making a positive change in young people’s lives. It’s wonderful to see the impact of this work and witness students harness the power of creativity to craft their own stories, particularly in one of the new library spaces,” commented Pam Batty, VP of corporate responsibility, Burberry. “We hope seeing their artwork displayed in the zine and the mural will continue to inspire more voices from the next generation to bring their dreams to life.”
“We are all products of our communities. At times it can be difficult for children to see beyond what is on their doorstep so it’s so important to inspire, to motivate, and to offer opportunity that breaks them out of that restricted mindset. We want to offer every child the opportunity to thrive in later life so developing creative and engaging initiatives like this, projects that the children can see the result of their hard work in every day, is so important,” said Marcus Rashford
“We love working with Burberry because, like us, they are constantly ripping up the rule book to innovate and break down barriers for the communities that represent Britain today,” added The Face Brand Director Jason Gonsalves. “That why this initiative, working with an inspiring leader like Marcus, and a brilliant artist like Tegen Williams, whilst having a genuine positive impacting the lives of young people, is our dream project.”
“We’re thrilled to have worked on this project with Burberry and The Face, enabling children from Holmleigh School to express themselves creatively through this fantastic mural, showcased for the local community to enjoy. This builds on our work to make primary school libraries a place where children can read, imagine, create and escape into a whole new world,” added National Literacy Trust Head of School Programmes Fay Lant. “We have even broader ambitions for the future through the Primary School Library Alliance* which aims to transform and equip 1000 primary school libraries by 2025, helping to create a new generation of readers who are better equipped to fulfil their potential.”
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Through the previous 18 months, Rashford has been working with Burberry, The National Literacy Trust and Macmillan Children’s Books to improve literacy skills in underserved communities across Manchester, Yorkshire and London. The project spans funding for school libraries, book donations and teacher training and it’s objective is to helping disadvantaged children develop literacy skills, broaden their imagination and unlock new opportunities.
Burberry famously unveiled an iconic mural of Marcus Rashford, showing the footballer as both man and boy, in Manchester in December 2020.
Marcus Rashford mural in the Northern Quarter, in collaboration with Jazz Grant and Burberry pic.twitter.com/UZf7iHMDvv
— utdreport (@utdreport) December 19, 2020
In 2021 Rashford was also involved in a Nike kids football pitch and mural project at his old school in Button Lane and last year he also worked with Aldi on the super market brand’s ‘Hungry Monster’ project.
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