Buzz around seen 10,000 bee to raise

BODY-ART EXPERTS ACROSS GLOBE HAVE GIVEN THEIR TIME FOR FREE

MORE than 10,000 people have now had bee tattoos in a show of solidarity after the Arena bombing - raising half a million pounds in the process.

In the days after the atrocity which saw 22 people murdered last month, people began getting the worker bee an historic symbol of the city - inked on them.

Tattoo artists began donating their time and resources and doing the body art for free in exchange for a £50 donation to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.

And the total raised by the campaign has now topped £520,000, and is still rising by the day.

Stalybridge-based tattoo artist, Sam Barber, 28, who started the campaign, said it was impossible to count the numbers who had bee tattoos in the last month, but said studios across the world had taken part.

And she said 10,000 was a fair estimate given the total raised, and the fact some had donated more than the £50 to suggested.

Sam said: “It’s still really overwhelming. It’s just spiralled so much, it’s amazing. It’s not just in Manchester, but across the globe. The bee has become a really powerful, important symbol and the response is just the perfect example of the love and defiance the city has shown.”

In the days after the attack at the Ariana Grande concert, hundreds queued outside studios waiting to have their design done, including an estimated 500 people at the Sacred Art studio, in Chorlton.

And Sam, who herself spent 18 hours straight doing free tattoos, said it was a wide-range of people, including thousands not normally inclined towards body art, who had felt moved to have the symbol inked onto them.

“Probably the nicest thing about it is that most of the people who’ve had it done have never had one done before and aren’t your stereotypical client at a tattoo studio” she said.

“Getting to speak to and spend time with loads of different people in the chair has been great as well. “They’re a lasting reminder as well. “It’s amazing to think in years to come someone might walk into a bar, restaurant or shop, see someone with the bee on them and instantly, even all those years on, know what it’s about and what it represents.”

TO donate visit https://www.justgiving. com/crowdfunding/ manchestertattooappeal