The Alley Cats Project
At LEAP we have been running a project named Alley Cats hoping to improve the local area for the Gainsborough Community. There are very few green spaces in Gainsborough’s South West Ward, so LEAP believes that the alleyways could be the answer. What if we could transform them into clean, friendly and social spaces where neighbours and children can come together and get to know one another? And so the Alley Cats Project idea came to life.
We have secured funding from the Police Commissioner and Green Spaces fund to cover the clean-up part of our ambitions for the project. With the funding received, we aim to engage local residents into organised activities. These can involve litter-picking or tidying up the alleys. Gainsborough can come together to create spaces valued, enjoyed and owned by local residents.
Next, we teamed up with VCS (Voluntary Centre Services) to speak to West Lindsey. As well as aiming to tackle the alleyways we wanted to develop the small grassy patches at the end of Clinton and Portland Terrace. We were hoping to add raised planters to provide residents an opportunity to get involved with gardening. Here are photos of the green patches we hope to tackle:
Telecom Box Painting Campaign
We reached out to the local community, particularly Benjamin Adlard School, young people from the Connexions Community Hub and from residents living in the South West Ward for designs. There ideas were then developed by Mia Monroe from Lincoln Art Ninjas (see images below). Ten telecoms boxes owned by Virgin Media, Open Reach & WLDC across the ward were transformed with the help of over 30 volunteers. The idea was to help bring Gainsborough together and implement colour around the area.
Painting the Telecom Boxes
Attempt One
We checked the weather on the Saturday evening and Sunday promised to be a fairly dry day. However, a rain shower was expected between 12pm and 1pm. This changed quickly the morning of Sunday 1st August 2021. Looking at the forecast again, we were warned of rain from 2pm onwards, giving us a morning to get going. The weather however remained unpredictable as we had light showers throughout the morning. Despite the weather, over 30 volunteers of all ages joined in on Sunday 1 August 2021. Among them were the young artists from Benjamin Adlard School, young people from Connexions Community Hub and local residents.
As the morning progressed, the showers got heavier so the decision was made to not continue and postpone to a drier day. In the time we had available, our amazing volunteers had managed to complete some of the boxes, while others were half completed. We were grateful that the team at X-Church were able to assist with a packed lunch for all and shelter from the rain.
Attempt Two
Not wanting to leave the designs half-completed for too long, a proposal was made to return the following day. Calls were put out to all agencies and volunteers who helped out on Sunday, however being a weekday many were unable to attend.
The young people at Connexions Community Hub had also made great progress on the two boxes at the end of Portland Terrace. Side-by-side, the boxes tell an important story for all. If you find yourself overwhelmed with financial
worries, please know that there are many local agencies who can support you. Among them is one of our funders, the Stop Loan Shark Team, who want people to beware of and report Loan Sharks.
Some completed Designs:
We would like to thank all the volunteers from LEAP, Connexions Community Hub, Benjamin Adlard School, X-Church and other local residents. We also thank our funders and sponsors, including the Stop Loan Shark Team, West Lindsey District Council, Virgin Media, BT Open Reach, B&Q and Morrisons. We say a big ‘THANK YOU’ to Mia Monroe, our commissioned artist. Thank you for all the kind, positive and supportive messages shared with us on the day and on Social Media.
Walking Map with Quiz
We then created a walking map to encourage people to go and visit the altered telecom boxes. Download your map here – FINAL Walking Trail Map.
Safer Together Campaign
After the success of the Alley Cats telecom box painting campaign, we acquired funding from Lincoln and Police Crime Commissioner under the Safer Together campaign. This campaign’s objective was to launch a project to continue brightening up the area. A decision was made to paint a mural in one of the alleyways that lead from Trinity Street (Behind the HATS Community hub). Like many of the alleyways in the area, it is frequently strewn with rubbish, and is used for fly-tipping. It is hoped that as the alleyways are slowly beautified, the issue of fly-tipping is eradicated.
Deciding the painting
We held a competition for the pupils of Benjamin Adlards Primary School. We asked them to submit designs along the theme of Alley Cats, which would then be incorporated into the final design by the artist Mia Munroe of Art Ninjas HQ in Lincoln. This is the same team that, with the designs of the school pupils and other volunteers, had painted the exchange boxes for the Alley Cats Campaign. The winner was announced in the last week of summer term as Megan Fisk. We then waited for approval from WLDC.
Mural Painting
Due to weather delays and schedule conflicts, the painting did not commence until the weekend September 25th. Mia and her team of Art Ninjas arrived early each morning, and soon there were bright rays of sunlight. Energy clouds and a veritable storm of shapes began creeping across the wall. The mural took two days to complete as we were rained off one of the days. Luckily, before the rain arrived, winner Megan Fisk and her parents came to see the mural in progress as inspired by her winning design, and Megan contributed to the painting.
Now, the back wall of the HATS Community Hub is vibrant with colour and dancing cats. Together with the new planting beds at the bottom of Clinton Terrace on Primrose Street this has given the area a new flair. This combination of community drive proves that with the right support, we can generate change in our neighbourhoods. It’s great to see community’s come together to make little changes that can make all the difference like what was achieved with the Alley Cats Mural.
How can you help?
At LEAP we provide housing and support to vulnerable individuals facing homelessness in Lincolnshire. The easiest way you can help us to do this is to support us through fundraising, donating or raising awareness through sharing posts like these or our social media content. Leaving us reviews on our google profile helps us get noticed in the area, you can click here to leave us a review. Read more about what we’ve been up to on our blog or check out our homepage and explore our website.