A Hong Kong-based illustrator was so moved by a communities response to racist graffiti on a Quarry Bank takeaway that she put pen to paper to tell the story in pictures.

Joanne Wong, who grew up in Hertfordshire, saw reports of the incident at Ting Sing on Quarry Bank high street on social media and got in touch with the Head Teacher of nearby Quarry Bank Primary School to find out what had happened.

The popular eatery, which has been part of the local community for a number of years, was targeted earlier this month when vandals used spray paint to scrawl racist messages across the windows and walls. However, nearby residents were quick to condemn the act, with Dudley Council acting quickly to remove the damage.

The vandalism was shared on a local Facebook group, with many members desperate for the owners to know that they are a well respected part of the community. Alex Rawlings, Headteacher of Quarry Bank Primary School, said: 

"We decided that we would try to do something nice for the family, in an attempt to directly counter the racism - so we decided to spread some love. 

"The rainbow symbol is being quite widely used to show appreciation for others at the moment so we thought it was a great symbol alongside the phrase 'love is stronger than hate'.

"Alongside some of the children in the childcare provision, we took the painting and stuck it to the front of the takeaway, took a photo and sent it to the owners who were really pleased."

After speaking to Ms Wong, Alex was stunned when the artist got back in touch and showed him the images she'd created to go alongside his words.

Her take on the story details both the incident and the pupils response. It will be used by the school as an example of how to combat racism and to promote citizenship and community cohesion. Writing on her blog, Ms Wong said:

"I was moved when I saw this story floating around on Twitter. So I got in touch with Mr Rawlings who kindly agreed to give his story.

"Thank you to the teachers and children of Quarry Bank Primary School for the message of love. I’m sure that Asian communities around the world, who are hurting right now due to COVID-19 racism, will have some restored faith in humanity from your message."

Mr Rawlings added:

"Our role, as a school, is to educate against hate and model what appropriate responses to hate are. This is a great example of how a community can rise together to show that racism won't be tolerated in any corner of society. 

"We've had some fantastic success stories this year at Quarry Bank, from raising a fantastic sum of money from our Christmas Fayre to having a brilliant OFSTED inspection, but the communities' response to this has got to be one of the events that fills me with the most pride."

You can see Joanne's work in full on her website at joannewong.co.uk and follow this story on her blog.