Turning the Corner has been working with Kirklees Council IYSS team at Bradley youth centre over the past few months. Previously the young people did not have much respect for the centre and surrounding area. TTC worked closely with a small number of young people to design and create a mosaic for the youth centre. It was a great task as it was very big! The group learnt some great new life skills whilst doing this project.

Another group of young people worked on a project about Black History Month in October. The group initially wrote down famous black people in history. Through this they decided to focus on Olympians over the years. We did quite a lot of research then made a collage for the group to show off to other youth groups at an event.

These two groups are currently working on completing a Youth Achievement Award.

As a reward for their hard work and commitment to Turning the Corner project in their community the Free 2b Me girls went on a day out to Alton Towers and a meal at TGI Fridays.

Funding for the day out was secured by TTC Youth Champions Tammy, Malika and Olivia who wrote the community chest application and calculated costs.

We all had a fantastic day out trying out all the rides, granted some of them were scary!

Over the past few months the girls of Free 2b Me have been working on redecorating the inside of the Palace building where the group is based. Britivic volunteers started by painting the whole room magnolia. Everyone at the Palace was grateful for this as the room was looking tired and very blue!

The girls decided that it could do with brightening up some more so chose colours to paint stripes down the lower half of the walls. The girls also glossed the radiators and doors white to fit in with the room further.

We all learnt some new skills whilst doing this part of the project including how to prepare a room for painting, maintaining the tools, masking sections up etc.

As you can see from the finished result below it is a great improvement to the room. We are hoping to put some photographs up of the area before the project finishes.

Everyone who use Roberts Park in Bradford have given the park’s graffiti wall a makeover in a series of graffiti workshops, held for young people each day for a week in August. 32 young people were involved in the project. The name of the park is now displayed on the graffiti wall in a striking mix of colours, making the wall noticeable from the surrounding roads and businesses which face the park.

The wall is an important resource in the community, encouraging young people to experiment with street art and providing them with their own space to do so.

Local street artist, Cageone, who helped to deliver the workshops, said: “The graffiti wall had received so much use over the past few months that we thought it was time to work with the young people and give it a makeover. The workshop was really popular with the youngsters; children of all different ages joined in and took it in turns to add to the wall.”

Martin Bijl, assistant manager of Roberts Park for the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, said: “The park is a really popular and important recreational place for families with young children. The graffiti workshops have been a great treat for the children, and will also give them a sense of belonging and involvement with the upkeep of the park. The children will come back and show their families what they have done.”
The project was initiated by Turning the Corner (TTC) and Roberts Park management in response to reports of antisocial behaviour in and around the park. TTC is an initiative delivered by local environmental charity, Groundwork, and funded by the Big Lottery Fund, that aims to challenge negative perceptions and attitudes between local businesses and young people.

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Silhouettes of inspirational figures, including Barack Obama, Adele, Sir Alan Sugar, Beyoncé and Lewis Hamilton, now appear on the shutters of Chapeltown based voluntary organisation, Leeds Reach, thanks to local teens.

The project is part of the Turning The Corner (TTC) initiative, which is delivered by local environmental charity, Groundwork, and funded by the Big Lottery Fund. The initiative provides opportunities for young people to work together with businesses and organisations to build positive relationships and carry out environmental improvement projects within communities.
Local artist, Lucy Weston, created the mural and worked with teens from Leeds Reach to bring the design to life.

Ian St Rose, Services manager at Leeds Reach, commented: “We’re really pleased with the outcome of the mural on the shutters, it’s a really eye-catching design that we are sure the whole community will appreciate. We wanted an image that reflects the supportive work done by Leeds Reach, as well as something which will be inspirational to local residents. This design has done just that.”

The shutters can be seen next to the Leeds Reach entrance on Chapeltown Road.

Chapeltown girl group, Free 2b Me, have been brightening up the local area this summer by making and filling their own planters. The planters were donated to local coffee shop, Taste, providing customers with a more colourful place to relax this summer.

Tammy Fogarty, who was involved in making the planters, said: “We really enjoyed the whole process; I’d never built anything like that before so we’ve learned to use new tools and materials. It’s also satisfying to walk past Taste and see what we produced.”

Gary Hendrickson, Taste owner, said: “The planters have made a huge difference to the appearance of our coffee shop; the place looks much more summery. We’ve had a lot of positive comments from our customers.”

The Free 2b Me group supports girls and women in Chapeltown, providing essential services and work programmes, and working to keep them safe. The project was co-ordinated by the Big Lottery funded Turning The Corner (TTC) project, which is delivered by environmental charity Groundwork. TTC provides opportunities for young people to work together with businesses and organisations to build positive relationships and carry out environmental improvement projects within communities.

Painting the finished planter

In recent weeks the Free 2b Me girls have been working hard in making planters for the Palace building. They have been gaining new skills and learning how to use materials and tools. Now they have mastered the design they are going to making more for local businesses in the area.

Turning the Corner is currently working with Youth Services, Out of Schools Activities Team and NACRO at the Halton Moor Friday Night Project. We are working on a five week intense art based project where the young people are being encouraged to create art work to improve the centre. More to follow!

Bird Box

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Turning the Corner has once again been working with young people, Holt Park Tenants and Residence Association, Holt Park leisure centre, Asda and Interserve in helping to improve the local area. Pupils from Ralph Thoresby School spent their Enrichment Day morning clearing the quad of the leisure centre ready for the Jubilee celebrations. It definitely made a huge difference!
Next they made bird boxes for the Holt Park entrance which the Forestry department kindly put up. They spent the remainder of the day planting trees, shrubs and bulbs in the area.
It was a great day for everyone involved!

Turning the Corner and St Georges Youth Project are working together to improve the Lee Mount are of Halifax. Since the beginning of May around 15 young people have been meeting weekly to see what they can do to help their local area. The young people are working alongside New Horizons Coffee Shop and Noah's Ark Charity Shop. They have so far made canvases and re-painted the metal gate. They have also created a vegetable plot for other community members to use. They have many other ideas and will be writing about it soon!

A shop owner in Halifax has enlisted the help of young artists to brighten up his premises after seeing the impact of their artwork in other areas of the community.
Eight young people aged 14 to 17 have once again put their creative talent to the test in the Queen’s Road area of Halifax after being enlisted by the Al Nawaz Superstore to design and create street art for the store’s shutters.
The project has been organised and funded by the Turning the Corner (TTC) initiative, which is delivered by Groundwork and funded by the Big Lottery, following the success of a similar project involving local takeaway Deli Green, which had its own shutter art designed earlier this year.
Working alongside professional street artist Cageone, TTC youth worker Ellie Branch-Evans and Al Nawaz Superstore’s owner Behzad Nawaz, the budding artists have adorned the shop shutters with images depicting products sold in the store and a new store logo.
Behzad Nawaz, owner of the Al Nawaz Superstore, said: “I saw the artwork that had been done at Deli Green and thought it would be a good idea to improve the outside of our own store by getting the young people to come up with some designs.
“I’m really pleased with the results and I hope more businesses in the area get involved.”
Ellie Branch-Evans commented: “It’s good to see another business in Queen’s Road getting behind the scheme. Not only is the artwork improving the area visually, the project is encouraging young people and businesses to build positive relationships and to take pride in their local community. We’re getting really good feedback from other businesses and the wider community and I think it will only be a matter of time before we see artwork adorning every shop front in the area.”
Haroon Rafiq is one of the young artists involved in the scheme. He said: “I enjoyed working with Behzad and Cageone to help come up with the designs and it was good fun painting the shutters.”

The TTC project, which is delivered by Groundwork and funded by the Big Lottery, aims to challenge negative perceptions and attitudes between local businesses and young people seen to be ‘hanging around’ street corners, particularly in areas with shops. The shutter art initiative was managed in partnership with Calderdale Council Play Service and The Himmat Project.

The boys from Halifax have been working with local business Al Nawaz Superstore in transforming the area. The young people have worked alongside CageOne in designing, developing and creating individual sketches for the three shop fronts. They spent Saturday creating the first design seen here. They will be working on Thursday in completing the other two shutters.

Windhill Skate Park has seen its final design put up on Friday night. The local young people have made a great impact on the skate park.

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Green fingered teenagers from Holt park in Leeds have transformed a neglected area of the local community after teaming up with Turning the Corner, Youth Services, Holt Park Tenants and Residents Association, Interserve and staff from Asda.

Around 20 young people from Holt Park have overhauled a disused area of land located behind the Holt Park Leisure Centre, close to a busy shopping centre where the Asda store is based.

The 45 metre squared area of land is now adorned with spring flowering plants and shrubs after the group of 13 to 17 years olds took part in a planting session alongside three staff from the neighbouring store, which also supplied the plants and bulbs.

It follows a successful project that took place earlier this year to transform the exterior of the Holt Park Leisure Centre, which backs onto the shops, with an eye-catching art wall depicting images of sport. Asda was so impressed with the work that had been done to enhance the area, that they were keen to offer their support for the new scheme.

Pam Nichol, community engagement officer at the Asda store, said: “As a business with a commitment to supporting the local community, we’re always keen to support projects like this which engage local youngsters in positive activities. As demonstrated by the recent art wall scheme, young people tend to look after and take pride in projects they’ve been involved in and this sense of pride tends to filter into the wider community. They appreciate the hard work and funds that go into making something look nice that they might otherwise have taken for granted and are therefore more likely to look after it in the long-term.

“Additionally, projects like this can be therapeutic for the young people and they also give them the chance to learn new skills. Showing our support and appreciation for their hard work helps build relationships and in turn reflects positively on their behaviour when they come into the store. When we were approached by TTC to get involved in the planting we were keen to get involved. The area looks great and will be a lovely spot for everyone to enjoy during the summer months.”

Simon Walton of the construction company Interserve, the main contractor for the new leisure centre, also supported the planting scheme by offering the time of the company’s staff to prepare the soil ready for planting.

Ellie Branch-Evans, Environmental Youth Officer for Groundwork, which delivers the TTC scheme, said: “This is the second project TTC has been involved with in Holt Park in recent months to help transform a tired area of the local community. The planting scheme has been a great success, giving young people the chance to work alongside businesses to make positive improvements for the benefit of the whole community and gaining new skills and confidence in the process.

“The partnership working between Turning the Corner, the leisure centre, youth services and Holt Park Tenants and Residents Association has been crucial in terms of the progress made to date at Holt Park. We hope that through these relationships we can continue to have a positive impact on the area.”

The group of young people at Windhill Skate Park are really getting to grips with spraying the sides of the boards. This week the group worked on one of the designs from a young person.

The Spring 2012 Groundwork Leeds newsletter has a great article on the Free 2b Me Turning the Corner project: http://www.yorkshire.groundwork.org.uk/leeds/news--events/newsletters.aspx

It was a good experience! We met lots of nice people. We went abseling, pond crossing, crate climbing and bushcraft skills. It was really good to see the first draft of the video. Tonight we have been filming some new footage to be added to the final version. It was good fun and hope to do other again sometime.

The young people of Holt Park will be working alongside Asda, Interserve, Youth Services, Holt Park Leisure Centre and Holt Park Tenants and Residents Association this Friday in improving the land in front of the wall they have sprayed previously. The young people were keen for this to go ahead. Interserve have kindly prepared the soil ready for the planting. Asda have provided some plants and flowers for the event. We will be there from 12 till 3 if anyone would like to come along and join in!

Tonight saw the young people spraying the name of the park on the side of the ramp. Already we have had various comments from community members saying it is looking a lot better.

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Windhill Skate Park has started to be transformed. The local young people have done all the designs for the four sides of the skate park and now each week they are spraying them on. Week one has seen a shark attacking a skate board. More pictures of the other walls to follow!

Young people of Windhill skate park have started designing ideas for the sides of the ramp with the help of Cageone, a local street artist. We are working alongside HALE, a local healthy living organisation for the next five Friday nights.

Young people of Holt Park in North Leeds where given the opportunity to transform the side of the leisure centre for all to see. The theme of 'sport' was given to the young people by the leisure centre manager. The young people have been working with Cageone, a street artist, for a number of weeks coming up with ideas for the wall.
Over the February half term holiday we spent two days spraying the final design on the wall. We even managed to do some clearance work of the area by getting rid of two bags of rubbish and weeds. The young people did extremely well with this project. We have received some good feedback from the local community.
We are hoping to continue working in the future to improve the local area by doing some planting of the beds around the area.

Young people in Halifax have been getting arty with shop shutters in the Queen’s Road area of the town in a bid to brighten up the community. I had five young people turn up on a very cold Saturday morning to help enhance the exterior of local fast food outlet Deli Green.
Working alongside professional street artist Cageone and business owner Pervez Khan, the budding artists have adorned the shop shutter with an apple design in keeping with the Deli Green logo. Mohammed was very proud to see his font being sprayed onto the shutter. We had a lot of passing community members asking about what was going on and many seemed to like it.
This is the third time TTC has partnered with Deli Green in recent months. Now the artwork is complete, the team of artists plan to approach other businesses in the area with the opportunity to have their shutters adorned with an individual artwork design.

Turning the Corner has started work with the young people of Holt Park in working on creating some artwork for the side of the Holt Park Leisure Centre. They have spent the past few weeks working with an artist in creating designs withthe theme of 'Sport'. The Leisure Centre manager has been workly closely with the group looking at their ideas and stating what he likes. The group will be working over half term in completing the wall. More photographs to come!

The group have been working hard in the past month coming up with ideas for the Shutter of Deli Green. They got some feedback from the manager of Deli Green stating what he liked/disliked from the initial designs. They have now worked together and will be showing the sketch to him imminently. We are hoping to be painting it with Cageone, the street artist, this Saturday (weather permitting). The boys have also been on a weekend residential to build relationships and work on their team skills. The weekend was a huge success, the mountain biking was a particular favourite. Pictures of the completed shutter will be put on here when it is complete

We have worked long and hard to get to were we are now. We have done a range of things to make our environment more attractive and special to us we have gone from decorating tshirts to designing a metal bench and sheep for the outside of Palace. All the things that have gone into this project was all ideas based on what we wanted to make the environment we live in better for us as young people. We have enjoyed the project and would do something like this again

Turning the Corner has just started a new project in Halifax. It is aimed at young men on Queens Road who are interested in gaining new skills in art work, team building and confidence. The group are working with the owner of Deli Green, a local takeaway, and Cageone, a street artist, in designing and spraying the shop shutter. More details and photos to follow!

The sheep and the bench have arrived at the Palace. The girls from the Free 2b Me project deisgned them both themselves. The reason behind the crowned sheep is that the palace is represented by the crown and Shepherds Place where it is based by the sheep. The bench represents everything the group does, enjoys and like including flowers, butterflies, pool and crayons. They have certainly given the building a colourful lift! Just waiting now for the mosaics to be placed under the windows.

This is what the bench looks like so far! The girls are now deciding what colour the bench should be. We hoping to have it placed outside the Palace before Christmas.

The girls first started working with Mick the metal artist in August 2011 where they had a workshop as what metal artwork they wanted for the outside of the building. They were all in agreement that it had to be practical therefore started designing a bench. Mick went back to his workshop and created a design from their art work. This is the design he came up with.

The girls have been working really well together in finishing off the mosaic that will be placed on the outside of the Palace building. I must saying its looking great! The bench is nearly in completion. We are now building up to Christmas where we will be having a little party to celebrate all their achievements in the past few months.

Turning the Corner Leeds took along three Free 2b Me girls along to Peat Rigg Outdoor Activity Centre to meet up with other Turning the Corner projects. Tammy, Mia and Olivia met other young people from across the North East and had the opportunity to do some fun (sometimes muddy) outdoor activities including abseiling, mountain biking and sip lining. They all very much enjoyed the experience and are hoping to meet up with their new friends soon.

After all their hard work on the Mega Healthy Bites project the young people from the Queens Road Neighbourhood Centre celebrated in style on Monday 14th November. They chose what they wanted to do and who they were going to invite. For two hours the centre changed into party central with dance mats being the main focal point. We had food from local businesses. They also had chance to watch the premier of their DVD in which they are interviewing the local counciller Farman Ali about the litter in the area. It was a fantastic night!

Turning the Corner has been working in partnership with Free 2b Me project, a girls group in Chapeltown Leeds. The group have girls have been working hard every Tuesday evening in improving their local area by creating pieces of art. These include mosaics that are going to be attached to the walls. They have also been working with a local metal artist in producing ideas for a bench to be placed outside the Palace building. They have worked with a local street artist in designing vinyl clocks that they have given to local businesses and organisations. The group are still meeting regularly and thinking of other creative ideas how they can improve the area.

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The Mega Healthy Bites are currently organising their own party to celebrate all their hard work. The group have worked hard in partnership with Deli Green, a local takeaway, in producing a healthy menu for young people. They have also tackled litter in their local area by organising a clean up day and creating a banner to encourage using bins. They have questioned local councillors about the high levels of rubbish around the area. The party will have fun and games, food, and the first showing of their DVD of the question time with the councillor.

A project encouraging Aire Valley schoolchildren to build relationships with businesses has been deemed a great success. Five year 11 pupils from Titus Salt School, Baildon, have been working alongside business bosses to enhance the environment while gaining qualifications.
The students have carried out work across the area, including clearing ivy and planting bulbs at community woodland area Fernie-hurst Dell, improving a community allotment and bulb planting at Baildon. The work has led to pupils Luke Welch, Robert Yates, Adam Moffitt, Rhys Ramsden-Stone and Ben Ostryzniuk being awarded a National Open College Network qualification.
The project, initiated by school and youth project Turning the Corner, began in September and culminated in a presentation of planters to two businesses â Trench House Stores and Corner House â who have signed a YES Pledge to say they are a young person- friendly establishment.
Fran Arkley, senior youth worker, said: the students have been able to gain new skills and qualifications, while getting experience of a working routine in preparation for leaving school.
Pupil Luke Welch said ‘the jobs we’ve done, like planting, clearing, digging, building and joinery have really been great and have all given me new skills.’

A group of young people from Baildon have made a positive impact on their neighbourhood after taking part in a week long art project to enhance the local community.

Working alongside professional street artist Cageone, the young artists created four boards which will be installed on a wall on Southcliff Drive depicting images of young people doing various activities.The group also used their creative talents to enhance some garages on Southcliffe Way with images and messages to encourage dog owners to clean up their mess.

The project was supported by Shipley Area Co-ordinators Office (Bradford Metropolitan Council) who provided funding, In Communities housing and the Bradford Youth Service who helped to recruit the budding artists. YES Pledges - Young People's Exceptional Services – were awarded to the organisations as well as to a local business, The Junction Cafe, who have received certificates to display and promote that they are a young people friendly.

Mr Mahey, owner of The Junction Cafe, was keen to support the initiative and provided the young people with a discount on their lunches throughout the week. He said: “The project has had a positive impact on the local area. We were keen to show our support to the young people and look forward to supporting Turning the Corner projects in the future.”

Three of the young people involved in the scheme were awarded a Take up the Challenge accreditation, part of the Youth Achievement Award, for their efforts.

Fran Armstrong, Senior Youth Worker for Groundwork Leeds which delivers the TTC project, said: “Following on from other successful TTC initiatives in Leeds and the surrounding area, the Southcliffe street art project in Baildon has been a great opportunity for young people to get involved in a fun activity and make a positive impact on their local community. The group has been able to build relationships with a number of organisations and businesses in the area and some of the young people have even received a formal accreditation for their efforts, boosting their confidence in the process.”

10 year old Chelsea Bates was involved in the scheme, she said: “I really enjoyed being involved in the painting project. I hope that people in Baildon like what we’ve done and that it helps get them to clean up after their dogs to keep the area clean and tidy.”

A group of young people from Baildon have made a positive impact on their neighbourhood after taking part in a week long art project to enhance the local community.

Fifteen youngsters took part in the Southcliffe street art project led by the Groundwork Leeds Turning the Corner (TTC) initiative, a Big Lottery funded scheme that encourages young people to get involved in environment improvement projects alongside local businesses and organisations. TTC aims to build positive relationships and break down barriers between the two groups and to discourage anti-social behaviour.

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