You may have read in our newsletter, or via the Trust Twitter account, that we have recently gained permission from the Highways Agency (and Leeds City Council) to paint a mural on the wall of the underpass beneath the M621 motorway, on Lowfields Road. This approval was gained after six months of negotiation, and a decisive intervention from Hilary Benn MP, for which we are very grateful.

We don’t need to tell you what an iconic location this is, and how visible a landmark this will be when completed. We would like the final design to celebrate Leeds United as a unique football club, and for it to reflect our proud history, complement the upcoming centenary celebrations in 2019 and stand as a lasting legacy.

We have been working with Leeds-based organisation East Street Arts on this, who are experienced in public arts and have carried out many similar projects in and around Leeds. They are mostly Leeds fans and are fully behind this project, sharing our desire to give the area more of a ‘Leeds United’ identity, to brighten up the location, and to enable Leeds fans to share 'ownership' of it.

At the moment we are in the middle of a two-week period where interested artists can submit a design which they would like to be considered for the wall. Our aim is to have four or five mural designs ready for Trust members to vote on in a couple of weeks, and then a short period for voting on the final design. We will then have two weeks at the beginning of August to prepare the site (remove shrubbery and make the wall surface ‘clean’ and paintable) and get the mural finished in time for this season's first home game.

We are trying to raise £3800, which after JustGiving fees will give us around £3500 to spend on the mural. Included in this will be a donation from Trust funds but we'll need the help of as many Leeds fans as possible.

If we're lucky enough to raise more than we need, the surplus donations will fund further murals or other community projects.