Hitchin Nub News caught up with local artist, Sarah Graham, following the launch of her new A4, full colour, hardback book made up of the work of 180 artists and celebrities.

The book, which was crowdfunded, will raise money for the local Hitchin branch of the Samaritans, a cause close to Sarah's heart.

Sarah described the event as "awesome" and paid tribute to the over 150 people who braved the cold weather to venture out to Osinsky's to attend.

The crowd enjoyed drinks and a performance from Hitchin's Drag performer Magenta Slipperz.

Sarah, who suffers from bipolar disorder, describes her close personal links to the Samaritans who "genuinely saved my life" back in 2005.

Last year she raised £43K for the charity through an auction of the work of 180 artists and celebrities – all based off her camper van stencils.

As Sarah explains on her website "I've been painting camper van stencils for a long time, so I asked artist friends and collaborators to put their own spin on my camper van design, creating their very own, unique Samarivan"

Now those pieces of work have been produced that into a book with 250 copies printed in the first print run and available for £30 a copy – with all proceeds going to the Samaritans.

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This will allow the local branch to reconfigure their offices to host "more listeners" that make such a difference to people's lives.

Sarah is by no means finished her fundraising efforts and plans a 24-hour "paintathon" next year to raise more funds for the charity. 

Stay up to date with Sarah's work / charity fundraising via her website here

The book is now available via eBay; https://ebay.us/Z1eVSd