Grafham Water Centre
Six young people lifted the lid on spray paint cans in August to begin a huge 45 metre graffiti arts project at Grafham Water Centre
The 16 to 19-year-olds are former participants in Cambridgeshire County Council’s UProject which helps school leavers who are not in employment, education or training to learn team building skills, improve communications and build confidence while taking part in fun and challenging activities.
The group were set a challenge to create a mural that represents the water sports and activities centre.
It took the group of teenagers, who have called themselves ‘Vibrant’, three days to complete the mural which is the same size as the width of a football pitch. The group were helped by Josh Peacock, a well known graffiti artist with Momentum Arts.
The UProject has been running across Cambridgeshire for 8 years and within the last year has worked with 182 young people between 15 and 17 years old. Around 90% of the young people who have been given training under the project remained attached to education, employment or training. The rest are supported and referred onto other relevant programmes.
The mural was funded by money from a charity called the Youth Bank following a successful bid for £2,900 by the six teenagers supported by their Connexions worker Dawn Carter. All six of the people who worked on the mural attended graffiti arts workshops last year which inspired them to make the bid for funding.
The group also enjoyed climbing and archery sessions during the evenings during their three day stay at the Centre and will be completing an award run by the Arts Award group.
Ian Downing, Head of Grafham Water Centre, said: “We are really excited about this art project and the final results are fantastic. It was a huge task to complete such a gigantic project in just three days but the team of youngsters have done a great job and should all be really proud of their achievements.’ The art work will be enjoyed by staff and visitors at the Centre for many years to come!’