Building Up HOPE was a youth-led placemaking project that transformed the outdoor concrete jungle around Pom Pom’s studio at Davoren Park Shopping Centre into a colourful oasis.
Carclew worked with the City of Playford and CareWorks SA’s Hope Street youth drop-in centre to facilitate the project led by young people who use the area the most. They worked together with professional artists and community workers to workshop ideas, develop a design, oversee installation and finished with a celebration event to welcome families into the revitalised space. The long term vision was to create a place where people feel comfortable to connect with the wider community and more young people are attracted to participate in programs.
“We want a space where young people actually want to visit and engage in activities,”
Lachlan (19)
“It looks really plain and I want to light up the area,”
Shayla (10)
Like many young people, Playford youth have experienced significant impacts due to COVID-19. Building Up HOPE aimed to promote positive physical and mental wellbeing and community connectedness.
Building for HOPE was a City of Playford project in partnership with CareWorks SA’s Hope Street and Carclew’s Pom Pom. This project received funding from the Department of Human Services Youth-led COVID-19 Recovery Grants and administered by the Local Government Association of South Australia. Views and findings associated with this project are expressed independently and do not necessarily represent the views of the Government of South Australia or the Local Government Association of South Australia.
Banner image: a colourful pathway with rainbow painted benches around a small garden – Photo by name_with_link