AN Ealing man has painted a portrait of England footballer and Ealing local hero, Bukayo Saka, and is selling the painting in order to raise money for anti-racism charity, Show Racism the Red Card.

Andrew McLeay works as a Community Impact Manager for City Harvest charity in Acton, but also enjoys painting as a hobby.

He told Ealing Nub News: "I started painting when I was homeless, it's a cheap way of staying sane.

"Then when I worked at Ealing Soup Kitchen, I would paint small portraits of the people who would come for food.

"It's something more personal than just a photo and I would gift them to the models."

Andrew taught himself how to paint and has become very talented over time.

He decided to put his talent to use and 'give something back' as he puts it.

Which is why when Euro 2020 finished, he wanted to find a way to 'do something' to fight racism, following the online racist abuse Saka, along with fellow England stars, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho faced.

That's why he painted a portrait of local hero Bukayo Saka, who grew up in Greenford, with all proceeds donated to Show Racism the Red Card.

"I just want to do good and if I can raise money that goes towards fighting racism, then that's fantastic," he said.

Andrew is also trying to get Saka to sign it, in order to fetch a higher price and raise even more money for charity.

He's contacted people with connections to Saka's family and friends and is hoping that the Arsenal star will hear about his work.

He said: "I didn't really think about it to start with if I'm being perfectly honest, but my mates suggested I try to reach out to him as he's local and he's got connections to the local community.

"So I've been contact with people who know his family or his friends from school, and they said they'll tell him about it.

"It would be great if he could sign the portrait, which would then sell at a higher price and even more money would go towards Show Racism the Red Card."

Andrew is also thinking about producing prints, which would be cheaper and at the same time create another fundraiser resource for the anti-racism charity.

"Prints would be cheaper and easier for people to purchase and because they would be mass produced, they would raise another substantial amount.

"At the same time they would allow more members of the community to feel like they're involved" he added.

Finally, the Australian charity worker would like to paint a wall mural commemorating Saka, similar to the one of Rashford in Manchester.

He said: "It would be a really cool thing to do, but at the same time it would be trickier too, as I'd have to get all the relevant permissions from the wall owner and the local authorities.

"But it would be a great memorial for the people of Greenford and Ealing Borough to have, in order to celebrate 'one of their own' who made it to the top."

If you'd like to bid on Andrew's portrait, message him on Facebook HERE.