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Lifetime Experience for Tom

/ Culture

A Horncastle student who helped to create a portrait of a WW1 hero in the sand on Sutton on Sea beach on Sunday said it was a ‘once in a lifetime experience’.

Tom Massey, who is Head Boy at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, worked alongside a team of six other sand ambassadors from across Lincolnshire, who as a team raked a portrait of World War One Lieutenant, Basil Perrin Hicks into the sand. 

This was done as part of an artistic initiative, ‘Pages of the Sea’, headed up by famous film maker, Danny Boyle. It acted as a nationwide gesture of remembrance for the men and women who left their home shores during the First World War.

And Tom felt very honoured to be involved of such an important event, in which only 30 beaches across the UK were selected to take part. 

Tom said: “It was very moving to see the whole community come out together to support this event.

“The team was amazing and we all worked really well as a group.”

Tom admitted it was a huge responsibility to be part of such an important event – but added that it was something he really enjoyed and said it was a once in a lifetime experience. It took the volunteers just under three hours to finish the final head shot.

Following the event, Danny Boyle said: “Beaches are truly public spaces, where nobody rules other than the tide.  “They were the perfect place to gather and say a final goodbye and thank you to those whose lives were taken or forever changed by the First World War.”

Mr Boyle added that he invited communities to come together and watch as the faces of the fallen were drawn in the sand and to remember the sacrifices they made.

Magna Vitae Trust for Leisure and Culture was invited to organise the event by 14-18 NOW, alongside partners East Lindsey District Council and collaborated with The Meridale Youth & Community Centre based in Sutton on Sea.

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