Key facts
Area: South East
Grant recipient: Street Dreams
Project: Out of the Dark - Upcycling Project
Programme: Awards for All
Date of award: October 2010
Amount awarded: £9,000
Disengaged and disruptive young people in High Wycombe are starting to turn their lives around with help from a Big Lottery Fund grant of £9,000.
Street Dreams used the funding to run sessions with local young people, showing them how to repair and restore unwanted furniture. The funding has seen the scheme expand from a project in the founder’s back garden to regular sessions based in a fully equipped workshop complete with showroom.
Under the watchful eye of founder Jay Blades, youngsters learn a host of new skills to help bring old furniture up to date and ready to go on sale. Local businesses have also started to take an interest in the project – one has taken on two apprentices to teach them how to reupholster old furniture the traditional way and another local craftsman has run sessions on the different kinds of wood and how to work with them.
The young people involved not only gain essential DIY skills but are also learning business skills as the project aims to become a social enterprise. Youth leaders work alongside the youngsters to help them to raise their aspirations and recognise the skills that they can offer.
The future for the project looks bright. News about the great work these youngsters are doing has spread and the project has been asked to take on a number of commissioned pieces. The youngsters also got to sell their work at a charity auction at London’s Clerkenwell Design Week event.