Screwfix Funds Exeter’s Centre Improvements
The 100 Club Social Action Week project this year was spearheaded by young people from our Seniors session, who decided that they wanted to repaint the lobby area of the 100 Club in order to make it more bright, welcoming and engaging. Using time in sessions to plan and discuss what they wanted to do, they found inspiration from designs used in other youth clubs with simple, colourful shapes which would allow anyone to get involved with the painting. It was also important for the design to be timeless and suitable for all ages to reflect the range of people who use the 100 Club space. Young people also considered how they could keep the space accessible by ensuring that doors and handrails were still clear and easy to differentiate.
The actual painting work was done over two days during Social Action Week. We had received a donation from Screwfix intended to fund some improvements for the centre, and thanks to this funding paint and painting supplies, young people had a range of bright colours to work with. The first step was to repaint the entrance area white, which young people were able to finish on the first day; on the second we moved onto the design of the mural.
Young people did a great job working together on this, sketching out designs and choosing colours, and deciding where to place each element of the mural design. They were also able to finish decorating another wall in the centre which had been previously painted in order for young people to complete a rainbow mural on it.
Even after the planned time for the mural was finished some young people volunteered to stay on longer on the last day in order to continue painting and help with the clean-up afterwards. The newly decorated lobby feels much lighter, more welcoming and energetic, and the response from both young people and other visitors to the centre has been overwhelmingly positive. While some elements of the design still need to be finished we’re hoping to invite some of the young people back into the centre soon in order to complete it, and in the meanwhile they have beautiful new artwork to enjoy.
