When the Bank of England opened its new wildlife banknote consultation, millions of us looked for one little face. It wasn't there.

So we asked you what you thought. Almost 600 of you replied, and the message was pretty much unanimous. 99% said the red squirrel should have been on the list. Nearly 90% said you were genuinely disappointed it wasn't. And 98% said the public should have had the chance to vote for it.

Here's the thing though. This was never really about a banknote.

It's about visibility. About a creature that once darted through every wood and garden in Britain, and now clings on in pockets of the country most people will never see.

One supporter put it perfectly:

"As a child, our native red squirrels were everywhere. Now they are nowhere."

That's the quiet danger. Once a species slips out of everyday sight, it slips out of everyday minds, and a species the public forgets is a species far easier to lose. Awareness isn't a nice-to-have. For the red squirrel, it's survival.

So we're not writing a complaint. We're throwing a challenge. 

Welcome to The People's Red Squirrel Banknote Project.

We're inviting everyone to answer one simple, joyful question: what would Britain's red squirrel banknote actually look like?

Draw it. Paint it. Photograph it. Design it. Create it with AI. Surprise us.

You can use our free template to get started, or build something entirely your own from scratch. We want artists and schoolchildren, photographers and conservationists, politicians, wildlife lovers and AI creators all in the mix. No skill bar, no gatekeeping. Just imagination pointed at one small red icon worth remembering.

My first sketch is above.

Now it's your turn.

Download the template here: saveourreds.uk/campaign-latest

The project runs until Wednesday 15 July, almost two weeks after the Bank of England consultation closes. 

Selected entries will form The People's Red Squirrel Banknote Collection, which we'll proudly share with the Bank of England, a gallery built by the public, for a species the public clearly still loves.

And while you're here, there's one more thing we need.

Share this petition with just one other person

We're 84,000 strong and climbing fast towards 100,000 signatures by the end of July. If you've already signed, thank you, truly. Now share this with one person who remembers red squirrels in their garden, or who'd be heartbroken to learn a child today might never see one. Every signature is a vote for visibility. Every share pulls us closer.

Let's make the red squirrel impossible to overlook again.

It didn't make the shortlist. Let's make it unforgettable instead.