An artist is bump-starting Comic Relief in Trowbridge, raising funds by painting pregnant women’s bellies.

Lorna Blake, 23, of St Thomas Road, is raising money by painting creative designs on the baby bumps of expectant mothers.

Miss Blake, who runs Face Painting by Bounce-A-Roo, has joined a team of 25 face painters across the country to form the National Bump-A-Thon Team, supporting Comic Relief as it celebrating its 25th anniversary.

She said: “It is a lot more difficult than painting somebody’s face, as the baby moves, rolls over and kicks about, but it is a much larger canvas, with no noses or anything like that.

“It is an amazingly rewarding feeling to be doing this for charity and I’m keen to raise as much as possible.”

For each baby bump design, she asks for a minimum donation of £5. Other sponsorship is also welcome.

Before painting the tums, Miss Blake asks the expectant mothers a series of questions, then creates a design.

Steph Pearce, 30, whose baby is due in three weeks’ time, said: “I really like the design. It’s of me, my partner, Dave, and my son, Harlun, with a stork flying over us. Having the design painted felt a little weird, but somewhat relaxing too.”

Miss Blake, who has raised £70 so far, is covering the Wiltshire, Somerset and Bath area for the charity challenge and is happy to travel up to 10 miles or host mothers who want their bumps painted.

She said: “I really want to encourage more people to get involved in this and help raise money for Comic Relief. Also, the women get to keep the design and it is another memento for them to go with their scan images.”

Women in all stages of pregnancy can have their baby bump painted.

Since its launch in 1988, Comic Relief has raised more than £600m with 13 Red Nose Days. Money has been spent in the poorest parts of Africa and the UK. This year’s Red Nose Day is on March 15.

For more information about having a bump painted, call 07719 122535 or see https://my.rednoseday.com/ sponsor/Bumpartwiltshire.