Bestselling colouring book illustrator Millie Marotta, from Tenby has launched an initiative to get the nation colouring in to show appreciation for our NHS.

Colouring has surged in popularity in recent years and many health professionals and organisations, including the NHS, have promoted colouring as a way to beat stress and anxiety.

In this time of crisis, many of us are feeling anxious. The Love NHS initiative offers a way to de-stress through the mindful activity of colouring in while celebrating our heroes working in the National Health Service.

The Love NHS illustration will be available as a download that can be printed at home. Once coloured, the illustration can be posted on social media, put up in the window, used as a flag or be sent to a loved one.

Millie Marotta is a freelance illustrator working in her studio by the sea in Tenby.

A pioneer in the global colouring movement, Millie had been an illustrator long before she inked her first book. Millie’s intricate illustrations are inspired by a love of wildlife and fascination with the natural world.

In 2015, Millie’s debut title Animal Kingdom (published by Batsford) spent a record 22 weeks as the official paperback non-fiction No.1.

Since then she has published several colouring books and stationery products, which have been translated into over 30 languages.