Bristol youth clubs to benefit from Banksy art sale

Earlier this week, Broad Plain and Riverside Youth Project sold Banksy’s Mobile Lovers piece to a private collector for £403,000.

The piece appeared overnight in April, fixed to a wall outside the cash-strapped youth club, which claimed ownership causing a dispute with Bristol City Council.

The dispute prompted the famous street artist to intervene by writing to the club to say the piece of art was theirs.

Dennis Stinchcombe, manager of the youth club, said the sale of the piece has protected the future of the club, which had previously been in a “desperate situation”.

He said: “A month or so before, I said to my staff it looks like you might have to find [new] jobs because we’re running out of money and we’re probably going to have to close.

“This [the sale of the piece] has now given us a few years.”

Stinchcombe launched an appeal to raise funding for the club in January, linking it to the centre’s 120th anniversary.

He said Banksy, who attended the club as a young person, heard about the appeal and created the artwork to support the centre.

Stinchcombe will use money raised from the sale to support the running of the club but he also wants to transform the first floor of the centre, making it more accessible for young people with disabilities.

In addition, he wants to share the funding with seven other voluntary youth clubs in the city.

He said: “We’re part of a young people’s group – there’s eight groups including ourselves.

“We’re hopefully going to help them. There’s still work to do but it’s definitely something I want to do.”

Stinchcombe said the sale of the Banksy piece has not only supported the centre financially but also sparked an interest in art among its young members.

He said: “The kids that come here are very sport-enthused but it’s created a bit more of an art ethos with them, which is great.

“Banksy has done us an incredibly good service. We’re incredibly lucky and very thankful that he’s done that for us.”