A group of civic minded children
who are members of a youth club in South West Dublin have
created a wonderful garden recently as part of a community
spirit awards project.
Kids from the Little Monsters Youth Club in Jobstown Tallaght
developed the garden at the Community Development Programme
(CDP) building in Dromcarra, Jobstown.
Thirteen children from the group aged from seven to eleven-year-olds
turned up along with some parent volunteers and a big brother
or two to do a couple of hours of hard graft.
The saying many hands make light work was certainly true
on the day as everybody got stuck in and it wasn't long
before a mound of earth was transformed into a wonderfully
landscaped garden bed.
The site was previously an eyesore, with burnt out cars
and litter being major problems but South Dublin County
Council recently installed gates and railings to secure
the premises. The management of the CDP then asked if the
club would do some landscaping.
South Dublin County Council provided the tools and generously
donated funds for plant supplies.
Two children accompanied a leader to Baldonnel Nurseries
to select the plants which included conifers, shrubs and
flowers. The idea was to use low maintenance planting so
that the upkeep would only require watering and weeding.
The design was laid out and decided at the nursery with
the help of manager Noel and quickly transferred to paper
to aid the arrangement the following day.
The children learned how to handle the plants properly and
how to use the tools safely. They were all very enthusiastic
and worked like Trojans, digging, planting, watering and
of course cleaning up afterwards. Grass seed was also scattered
on the remainder of the garden to fill in bare patches.
The creative youngsters have also designed a leaflet containing
information on how to keep the community clean with useful
phone numbers for people such as the local litter warden.
Over 4,000 of these leaflets were delivered to houses in
Jobstown recently.
As part of their community spirit project they also did
art workshops making 'litter-bug' puppets from rubbish which
they intend to use in an animated short film on anti-littering.
In addition they made soil enricher from egg shells they
collected which will also be used in the garden as well
as donating some to local gardening club ‘Blooming
Great’.
Afterwards some of the children spoke about their achievements
and how they enjoyed the project.
Conor Loftus said: “The best bit was the digging,
that was really fun,” and his colleague Lee Dowling
remarked: “I liked planting the flowers, it made the
garden really colourful.”
Lauren Woods commented on the industrious efforts of the
group.
“It was amazing how quickly we got it done with every
one working together,” she said.
Ann Fitzpatrick, project manager of the Community Development
Programme was very impressed by the work.
“It's a fantastic achievement by all involved, especially
the children,” she said. “I hope that their
hard work will be respected enough by locals and that it
will remain intact and not be targeted or stolen by vandals.
“We are getting a sign made with all the kids names
on it which will be displayed to commemorate the project
and give them a sense of ownership,” she added. “It's
the least they deserve.”
Annette Woolley, youth leader with the Little Monsters,
said plans were in the pipeline to develop the building’s
back garden into a vegetable and herb plot for the whole
community.
This would be done after the garden has been cleaned up
and given a new lease of life by a giant mural that the
group will do in the coming months with their big brother
club, the MC Teens.
“It would be great if we could liase with other groups
and green fingered locals in the area to tackle this major
project,” Ms Woolley said. “It's all about community
spirit and having pride in your surroundings.”
Local residents praised the children and handed out sweets
to keep them going. One local man passing by said: “It's
a big improvement, very colourful. I just hope the scumbags
don't wreck it. It would be a pity.' |
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