Sir Captain Tom’s Great Achievement
Palace Chemicals has commissioned a mosaic by a leading artist, Mark Kennedy, to celebrate the work of Captain Tom and all key workers who have contributed to the UK’s national pandemic efforts.
Palace Chemicals has a long-standing relationship with Manchester mosaic artist Mark Kennedy and have supported him with products to make some of his most famous works. These have included a Manchester City mosaic, signed by the team, that raised over £26,000 for homelessness at Vincent Kompany’s testimonial dinner in 2019. “Our team here at Palace Chemicals have been brilliant at not only helping us to continue to supply our accounts throughout the pandemic,” explains Chairman, Charles Clapham MBE, “but have also helped us to introduce our new hand sanitiser and surface sanitiser to help keep our customers safe.”
“We wanted to do something to acknowledge not only the work of Captain Tom, but all key workers, including our fantastic team here who are doing their part to help keep our customers safe and to ensure continuity of supply.” “Captain Tom is a true symbol of the hard work and dedication shown by so many and it’s great to have something to commemorate our collective spirit.” “There have been other fantastic stories of individual and community fundraising efforts around the country for our NHS Teams and we wanted to do our bit to help.”
“The clapping was a great idea for everyone to show their appreciation for the key workers, but we knew that couldn’t go on indefinitely, so to be able to put our name (along with Mark’s) to this piece, we would hope that it would be used as an ongoing symbol of their achievements throughout these times of adversity,” concludes Clapham. Mark Kennedy who has previously created mosaics for Joe Hart, Sergio Aguero, and Yaya Toure, said: “I was contacted by Palace Chemicals and asked to create this latest piece. Captain Tom is exemplifying the efforts by everyone helping us get through this.”
“The artwork has been a labour of love and I have worked tirelessly on it over 12-hour shifts. Our hope is that this helps to raise even more money for the heroes who have helped our entire national effort.” The mosaic took over 84 man hours and thousands of tiles to complete. It has been donated by Palace Chemicals to the Captain Tom Foundation, who will be arranging a public exhibition for the artwork once the pandemic is over. The business hopes the piece can be sold or auctioned to generate even more money for the foundation’s good work.
“We believe that many people will see the mosaic as a testament to what it stands for – hard work and determination in the face of adversity as so many in society (including our own team) have demonstrated,” says Clapham. “It’s also a fantastic testament to the quality of our adhesives and grouts and also of Mark’s creativity and skill. We hope it contributes in some way to raising money for good causes.”
Click here to learn more about the products Mark used to create this fantastic testimonial.