Kendal young people give underpass a colourful future

You said…  Romney underpass is dark and dingy and needs a lick of paint

We did…  worked with young people and loads of other organisations to make it lighter and brighter

Young people in Kendal have added a splash of colour to a formerly murky underpass.

The project to spruce up Romney underpass got underway when young people from Queen Catherine and Kirkbie Kendal schools worked with South Lakeland Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) to talk about grot spots in the town. The underpass got a big thumbs down.    

At the same time, young people on Impact Housing Association’s Kendal Impact Social Society (KISS) also wanted to see the underpass transformed. An art project they were working on to produce hundreds of mosaic panels seemed to be the perfect fix for the graffiti-covered walls. 

The two projects came together last year, with the South Lakeland Community Unit co-ordinating the partners and securing funding from the council’s Local Committee for South Lakeland and the CDRP to install new lights.   Cumbria Probation Service’s Community Payback team helped by putting up the mosaics to add the final touch.

Jennie Thomas who worked on the mosaics as a member of KISS, said: “It’s really satisfying to see the underpass now, especially with our own artwork on the walls.   It shows that speaking up about the things that you like and don’t like about where you live can make a big difference.”

For more information contact the Community Unit in South Lakeland.