A PARTNERSHIP between two organisations in the Weston area of Southampton assisted by the neighbourhood’s children has helped revamp and regenerate the exterior of a community building (January 2019).
Weston Adventure Playground (WAP) and Weston Church Youth Project (WCYP) have worked together throughout the past year to revitalise the facility helped by youngsters who handmade a series of mosaics for the project.
WCYP’s Project Manager, Libbi Hammond explained: “WAP in Hurstbourne Place, known locally as The Venny, is one of the best and most versatile community buildings in Weston. It was last refurbished in 2000 and it had begun to look very tired, especially on the outside. It did not look particularly inviting and, if you were walking past, you’d think it was a disused building, but it is a huge asset to the area.
“As part of our Big Lottery funding, we were looking to run a project that enabled the community as a whole to get involved. We use WAP for some of our clubs, have our office there and the kids love the space, so we thought the exterior of the building was something that would really benefit from our joint expertise and input, and giving the outside walls a refresh with mosaics seemed like the perfect solution.”
WCYP is an inclusive charity that enables, encourages and equips the young people of Weston to live life to the full and to contribute to their wider community.
The neighbourhood-rooted, non-profit organisation works with some of the most disadvantaged youngsters in the area and the team is passionate about empowering young people and giving them opportunities that will impact on their lives now and in the future.
WCYP* runs drop-in, open access youth clubs, trips and holiday activities, all of which are created to be fun and accessible and are designed to help build social skills and self-esteem.
Its Rock Solid clubs are held on Thursday and Friday evenings for ages from seven years to 14 and gives young people the chance to meet outside of school in a safe and fun environment, or to hang out and spend time together and take part in a variety of activities.
“We knew a mosaic artist, Will Rosie, with whom we had previously worked and has created some beautiful pieces, which have really helped to transform areas. Back in 2017, I discussed it with our Fun to Engage worker, Dean Waters, who would ultimately be co-ordinating it, and approached Will and the trustees of both WCYP and WAP to see what they thought. They loved the idea and we got approval from Big Lottery to use the money in this way and subsided it with funds from our Southampton City Council grant and set our plans in motion!
“The difference it has made to the feel of the place is wonderful, it’s much more welcoming and has given it a bit of life! The fun that was had designing and creating the mosaics was amazing too. Also, the way in which it gave young people the opportunity to contribute to somewhere they spend a lot of time, so they could feel proud of what they’ve achieved, was brilliant.”
Now the outside has been completed and was recently officially unveiled by Woolston & Weston’s Councillor, Warwick Payne.
Cllr Payne said: “I was delighted to open the mosaics at The Venny. Living locally, I often visit the venue with my daughter who loves playing there, and the new artwork will make it all the more special.
“It’s good that Will Rosie has been involved with the project, as he’s spearheaded several similar schemes across Southampton with the council and I’ve been impressed with those previous efforts.
“For any families in Weston who haven’t visited The Venny before, I’d thoroughly recommend it, as there’s plenty of fun, WCYP ensures there’s lots to do, and now there are new mosaics to see as well.”
WAP and WCYP have both existed on the Weston estate for many years but began a partnership in 2015.
Libbi added: “As another provision for young people on the estate we have always had strong links with WAP. For many years we ran all of our clubs and activities out of Holy Trinity Weston Church hall but as our numbers grew, we outgrew the space and recognised that there was nowhere suitable and safe for the children and young people to play outside.
“As a project, we also lacked a good permanent office space for our workers. In 2015, we began a partnership with WAP by moving in and renting out one of their offices for our workers. A few months later, we approached their trustees with the idea of renting out the playground space to run two of our open access clubs per week.
“The space is a lot bigger than the church hall and provides a huge amount of outside play activities and opportunities for sports, as well as all the usual games and craft equipment we provided at the church hall. We’ve been there ever since and love it, so didn’t hesitate when we had the opportunity to help revamp the place!”
Back in early 2018, WCYP set about asking young people from the area to design the mosaics – using the playground building and Weston as their inspiration.
“A lot of them centred around the shore line, the tower blocks and words such as ‘fun’ and ‘happy’. We sent their designs to Will, who collated their ideas into four pieces, highlighting the main themes and, as WAP has just come up with a new logo, he decided it would be good to create one that showed this.
“Will and his team then came down to a series of Friday Rock Solid sessions to get the young people to work on actually putting the mosaics together – he taught them how to cut the tiles to the right size, how you put big pieces together as a whole and taught them about colour and the visual side of things.
“During half-term, he spent the week with us running a series of sessions where the young people and their parents could get involved. Members from the local church and Co-Op came down to have a go too.”
WAP also wanted to paint the big outside wall of the building where the mosaics would be displayed. It asked WCYP to ask the young people to vote on what colour they thought it should be. They picked a vibrant lime green, which works well as it blends into the woods and helps make the mosaics eye-catching.
WAP’s Secretary, Colin Day said: “The Trustees of the Venny are delighted with their partnership with WCYP and the huge increase in attendance of local young people this has brought about. The idea of the mosaics was theirs and we really appreciate the artistry and the local community involvement. Well done to all involved.”
Anyone wishing to find out more about WCYP and its work, should call 07833 610385 or visit www.wcyp.org.
