Caterham will be covered in colourful artwork again this Easter, as an initiative designed to shake of the winter blues returns for another year.

As part of Caterham Valley’s Colour Caterham project, welcoming the start of spring, the town will be bedecked in handmade artwork made by the local community.

Last year lampposts and side railings were adorned with guerrilla knitting and trees decorated with colourful pompoms. Shops and businesses also displayed artwork in their windows created by local school children.

In the run up to this Easter holidays, Caterham Valley for You, the organisers of Colour Caterham, is calling on local groups and artists to 'own' a small area of the town – whether it is a set of railings or a lamppost - and transform it with colourful creations.

“Colour Caterham helped to create a fun and positive start to spring when the weather was doing anything but,” said Andrew Browne, chairman of Caterham Valley For You.

“This year, we would like local groups - whether that is local artists, craft, youth or community groups - to form a Colour Caterham team to create a vibrant and fun atmosphere in Caterham Valley so that visitors feel uplifted when they come to shop here.”

Local groups wishing to take part in Colour Caterham should submit their ideas via the contact form on the Caterham Valley for You website as soon as possible: www.caterhamvalley.co.uk

The announcement of Colour Caterham comes after the Christmas Elves Takeover, which brought hundreds of children into the town on the hunt for 20 handmade characters hidden in shops and business windows.

Youngsters submitted completed elf trail sheets to special collection points based around the town, and four winners were chosen recently to receive WHSmith vouchers. They are Alfie Fotheringham, aged eight, Harry Drewett, aged seven and Eve Malcolm, aged 10, and four-year-old Emily Garrard.