Young artists are celebrating their unsung heroes – from firemen to nurses, grandfathers to lollipop ladies – with 20 hand-painted portraits being displayed in a Watford department store.

Portraits sketched by pupils from four different schools portraying community members who make a positive impact in their daily lives will be showcased in the window display of John Lewis, in the intu Centre, until September 1.

Aya Zahoor, 6, from Chater Infants School, chose to draw her mother and commented: “My mummy is nice and makes me happy. Going in the window was really exciting but a little bit scary.”

Nathaniel Kingsley, 7, a pupil at Central Primary School, chose to draw his teacher Miss Maclean his teacher. He said: “She’s really kind and she makes me happy all the time.”

The chosen portraits were selected from more than 7,000 entries to a competition launched by John Lewis in March this year, challenging young school pupils, aged between five and eight years old, to illustrate someone in their community they felt was worth celebrating.