Bin art Children send message to clean up St Pauls
ACOLOURFUL street art project hoping to change how people think about waste is coming to St Pauls in Bristol.
The project is part of a campaign called Love St Pauls and has seen Bristol City Council and Bristol Waste working with children and young people in the area to decorate new bins with their artwork.
The bins were set to be installed from April 12, running the length of City Road and the surrounding areas.
Jak Boydon, from community engagement at Bristol Waste, said: “Keeping Bristol clean and tidy is at the heart of what we do. We believe that by working together, with communities, the council and Bristol Waste, we can make a positive impact on the areas we live and work in.
“Love St Pauls was a fun, community-led solution to a rubbish problem. The creative collaboration between the residents of St Pauls and local youth groups was designed to involve young people in making the area an enjoyable place to live.
“If Love St Pauls is a success, we hope to replicate it in different areas of Bristol.”
The bins were designed in craft workshops held at youth groups in St Pauls, with the help of local artist Deborah Weinreb and Sylvia Vincent, youth and community worker from Imayla, supported by the Bristol Waste Community Engagement
Team. Each workshop encouraged young people to talk about waste, litter and fly-tipping, as well as how to improve the streets of St Pauls.
Sylvia Vincent said: “Clean open spaces are vital for our children to enjoy themselves in Bristol. If children in the St Pauls youth projects could change anything in the area, it would be to stop fly-tipping, increase recycling and remove litter on the streets.
“The Love St Pauls project has engaged young people in the waste and recycling conversation. It has given them a voice to send a message to the St Pauls residents and the Bristol community to be more conscious about what they throw away and to look after the places in which they live.”
Councillor Kye Dudd, cabinet member briefing for climate, ecology, energy and waste, said: “Flytipping is dangerous, unsightly and an unnecessary blight on our beautiful city. The Love St Pauls project shows that by working together, we can make a real difference in cleaning up the streets of Bristol.”
Changing Your Mindset, the Full Circle Project at Docklands Community Centre and St Paul’s Adventure Playground provided the space for the workshops and helped encourage the children to express themselves through art.