The sale of Tesco style plastic bags branded with Banksy’s name and the reworked slogan ‘very little helps’ has raised £2,500 so far for St Martins.
The bags started popping up at unusual locations around Norwich in April, which attracted media attention. The plastic bags are screen printed with the supermarket’s old style ‘value’ branding and feature a play on the supermarket’s slogan “every little helps”, saying instead “very little helps”.
The bags were displayed and sold for £20 each at the Under the Stalls Art Fair at the Undercroft Gallery behind Norwich Market.
There’s been a lot of speculation surrounding these bags, and no official confirmation or denial about who produced them. They were originally dropped off to a homelessness charity in Bristol with the request that they are sold to raise donations. Owner of Urban Art Store, Lee Webster, received the bags from a friend in Bristol and decided to sell them locally for a Norwich-based homelessness charity.
This is a novel way to raise funds – thin plastic bags are usually treated as a disposable item of little value. The speculation about whether they truly link to street artist Banksy makes the owner question their value. Either way St Martins benefits from the artistic venture. We always say that every little helps, and ensure that all donations are used to further our work to support people out of homelessness.
Pictured: Lee Webster with one of the bags