Free paint adds splash of colour to new youth cafe

Art student Carla Fortune is busily putting the finishing touches to a rainbow disco scene on Thursday last that certainly catches the eye and lifts the spirits on entering what will be Athlone's new youth cafe come September. She is just one of a group of local young people giving up their free time this month to help transform St Mary's Hall in Northgate Street, the former workhouse building, from a dull, grey premises into a colourful, vibrant place with bright and colourful murals in advance of the centre's opening. The Gateway Project, a collaborative agency and community effort behind the campaign for the Youth Booth Cafe as it will be known, were the lucky beneficiaries of hundreds of litres of free paint as part of the Dulux Let's Colour Project, a venture designed to get Irish communities to take up their paint brushes to lift the mood of the nation by helping to transform spaces into colourful happy places. Delores Crerar from Foróige appealed to young people in the Athlone area to come down and get involved over the month of August on Tuesdays and Thursdays. "We are going to have some great fun painting the old famine workhouse, however, we need people to help us! So if you consider yourself to be a dab hand with a paint brush, contact us and get involved - you'll meet lots of people lending a hand," she explains. The room currently being painted will house the cafe decked out with couches, internet access, tv, Xbox, shop and disco stage area with decks. "It'll be a great hangout area," she commented, hopeful that it will be open in late September. Busily painting a girl disco dancing Lola Omotosho from Monksland said she can't wait for the cafe to open as there isn't much to do in Athlone at the moment. "I think it will be really good. Everyone I know will come, they are all talking about it." Meanwhile, Rose Finnerty from nearby Ballymore heard about the project from friends and decided to lend a hand. She is part of the new Making Space art group, who are keen to collaborate with the youth cafe project in the future. "We want to bring spaces alive with art," she said, adding that the group are hoping to do a chalking event in the Civic Square shortly. Carmel Rooney from Moate, who works with Foróige smiled that the young people were mad to get painting. "Each one does a section, it's great for them. They like the colour and brightness of it all and they are really into the music aspect," she said dabbing away at the rainbow of colour surrounding the area where the decks and band equipment will be situated. The Gateway Project is also currently looking for adult volunteers to help out with the project and young people to get involved in the Youth Committee who will assist in choosing and running activities and groups in cafe. Thanking Dulux for their donation of the free paint as part of the Let's Colour Project, Colin McAree, Regional Manager with Foróige said it has really brought the project to life, allowing them bring warmth, colour and youthfulness to the building. He said the fact that local young people are helping out means they are already taking ownership and responsibility for the building, part of Foróige's aim to enable young people in active citizenship and learning new skills. "It's going to be a hub for the community, a place for young people to go and enjoy and learn something," he pointed out, adding that they will be setting up links with other Foróige clubs across the county and other agencies who are part of the Gateway Project to enhance youth services in the county. "It's going to be a one-stop-shop for young people and their families," Mr McAree enthused, showing off the newly revamped stage area which will allow the centre to cater for a myriad of different activities. Ann Marie O'Riordan from Dulux, who heads up the Let's Colour Project heaped praise this week on the projects around the country selected for the free paint including the Gateway Project in Athlone: "We are thrilled about the amount of energy people are injecting into their local communities from scout halls to soft ball clubs, projects for the disadvantaged to the elderly - projects came in from right across the spectrum. We've tried to help as many communities as we can and hope we have put a smile of lots of people's faces with their new bright colours." She said the key is that the uplifting colours will impact of those using these spaces making them brighter, more positive places to be. "Although the project is now closed to applications for 2011, this is a three-year commitment to the Let's Colour Project and we will be reopening for applications in April 2012." The Dulux Let's Colour Projects has helped 250 community projects in total nationwide, including 30 scout halls, 12 children's homes, two hospitals, 50 community and youth centres, five old people's homes, four tourism projects, ten schools, 36 sports clubs and one whale house tourist attraction.