Eight-year-old Kiki designed 'stay home' T shirt to raise funds for Leeds hospitals

Lower Wortley Primary School pupil Kiki Consiglio drew a rainbow over a house to remind people to stay at home and to support the NHS.

She came up with the design while working on a homework project during the lockdown, but her mum and dad thought it would make a great T-shirt.

Now Kiki's parents have arranged for her design to be made into a T-shirt by Awesome Merchandise, a Leeds-based design brand which has a platform called Mercht at www.mercht.com

Mercht gives designers the chance to upload their designs and set a price for T-shirts which are then made available for people to buy.

Kiki, of Wortley, wants to support health heroes in Leeds and proceeds from sales of her 'Kiki says stay at home' T-shirts will go to www.leeds-cares.org, the charity which supports Leeds hospitals.

The YEP is celebrating #healthheroes across Leeds, who are the very front line of keeping our nation safe during the coronavirus crisis.

Kiki said: ”I wanted to see if I could help raise money to help people with coronavirus. Lots of people are working very hard in hospitals. I want people to stay at home and do the right thing.”

Kiki added: "We were doing rainbows for our windows for school homework. One morning I was supposed to be doing PE with Joe (Wicks) but didn’t want to so I did some drawing.

"I was drawing a rainbow over our house and wanted to remind people to stay home. Mummy and daddy said it was a great design and said I should do a T-shirt.”

Kiki's dad Fil Wood is a tattooist who runs the Black Crown tattoo studio on Great George Street in Leeds city centre, and her mum Sasha, 46, is a former art teacher.

Mr Wood said Kiki's design is "fantastic", adding:"Both me and her mum are very proud of the message she is trying to put forward, which is staying at home and doing the right thing."

James Lyall, Managing Director at Awesome Merchandise said: "We set up the Mercht platform to give independent designers an easy to use, risk-free way to have their designs created into merchandise, which customers can access directly.

"In these challenging times it's important we both show support to local independent businesses and artists, as well as the charities and causes which are in need the most.

"It's wonderful to hear heartwarming stories like Kiki's, who has been inspired to create her own design and support charities that mean something to her."

A string of Leeds designers are creating bespoke T shirt designs around Covid-19 and encouraging people to stay at home.

They are also using Mercht to upload their designs and sell the T-shirts.

Leeds indian restaurant Manjit's Kitchen is selling T shirts, for people who want to show their support whilst the restaurant is closed:

Cafe 164, a Leeds independent cafe and bakery, is also selling T-shirts, for people who want to show their support whilst the restaurant is closed.