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The accommodation at 29 St Andrews Street has undergone a transformation from uninspiring 80's decor to modern living.

This transformation evolved when 4 of the residents joined forces with a team of young people taking part in the Princes Trust 'Team' course.

This is a photo of the team after completing the mural wall.

One of our residents at 29 St Andrews Street had been attending the ‘Team’ course with the local Princes Trust programme. They were struggling to come up with an idea for their community project when one the residents at 29 St Andrews Street came up with the genius idea to invite the team to be part of the decorating project at 29 St Andrews Street that was in the pipeline.  The phone call was made to the coordinator and the project began to grow arms and legs!

Helen Munro, who is responsible for the Princes Trust team, immediately set up a meeting at 29 St Andrews Street. The team came and met with some of the staff and residents at 29  which was a great opportunity for the people on the team to get to know a bit about Aspire, and for the staff and residents to learn a bit more about opportunities with The Princes Trust. It was then decided that the team and residents would take on the task of decorating both the Lounge and Dining area, and would be turning the Dining area into a games room with a feature Mural Wall. It was agreed that work would take place on 6^th and 9^th April. The team then produced a risk assessment for the project and residents at 29 decided they would like the living area to be cream with one purple wall and the games room to be blue with one wall being the mural wall. The team then managed to raise funds in the region of £400 by taking part in bag packing and a sponsored day in the cells! What a great achievement on behalf of The Princes Trust.

06.04.10- The first day of decorating dawns and all are ready for action by 10.30am. The team start with the preparation work which involves a lot of dust sheets and masking tape.  Two teams are formed and one team start with the sky blue colour in the games room and the rest start with the cream colour in the lounge. It’s not long before the 80’s wallpaper is banished for good and all can breathe a sign of modern relief!  By the end of the first day the Games room is now blue on all except one wall, and the lounge is an oasis of magnolia with one purple wall adding a touch of individuality to the room. Great achievements in just one day! All leave still smiling and laughing which is possibly the best achievement of the day!

09.04.10- The final day of the project arrives and all are  in high spirits (maybe the promise of pizza at lunch time keeping the team going!). The purple wall gets a second coat and the lounge really begins to take shape. On with the glossing- Three rolls of masking tape later and the glossing begins. It’s all hands on deck to make the skirting boards, door frames and window surrounds white again. The Dolly Parton  CD is also on hand to give us some musical inspiration- what a sight seeing all dancing to   ‘9 to 5’ and glossing at the same time! After a well earned lunch break, it’s time to make a start on the mural wall. Drawing on one member of the team’s fantastic artistic ability, the wall is sketched out. ‘Shine like a star’ is the message conveyed. Very appropriate to all involved. The wall is given a huge injection of colour and instantly brightens up the games room. Time for a team photo, then the mammoth task of tidying up!

The decorating is now complete and the next step is to accessorise the room in the next couple of weeks. Some of the individuals attending the course have been so inspired that they are considering a placement in the decorating field possible even a career in the future.

 All at 29 St Andrews Street were so happy to have the opportunity to work with a great team of individuals. The team spirit was very evident throughout the project and all appear to have benefited from the experience. Its amazing what you can do in two short days with the help of your local community. Let’s hope this is the start of many more community projects to come.