Today Weave Youth & Community Services are proud to officially launch the newly renovated community space at Poet’s Corner, Redfern!

With a commitment to building a strong, connected community, we recognised that the public garden space in front of the Poet’s Corner shops had so much potential – not only be a beautiful space that’s a source of community pride, but also an area that more practically meets the needs of the community.

The project started in late 2016, when we were thrilled to receive funding through the Family & Community Services Social Housing Community Improvement Fund to renovate the Poet’s Corner space.

Through consultations with the community, interviews with residents and multiple design drafts, we worked alongside the Poet’s Corner community to reimagine the space.

Lincoln Smith, Weave Youth & Community Services Social Enterprise Worker Program Coordinator and the Project Lead, says:

“The project’s a great example of getting residents involved in actually shaping the physical space that they live in. There are so many great people, with a lot of strength and beauty, in this community — we wanted to celebrate that and involve as much of the community as we could in designing the space.”

Greg Benson, Weave Youth & Community Services Interim CEO, says:

“The Poet’s Corner and Redfern community are worth investing in, and we are proud to celebrate the strength and resilience of this community. Poet’s Corner has become a practical space that the community helped to build — the community have reclaimed the space and will enjoy using it now and into the future.”

Weave would not be able to accomplish this task without the hard work and generous contributions of our project partners Cadence & Co., Sticks & Stones Landscape Designs and BC Films, in addition to The Botanical Gardens Community Greening Project, the Redfern Men’s Cave and our generous donors.

The Poet’s Corner Renovation Project represents the collaboration of the non-Government, Government, business and community sectors to make a positive change in the physical landscape of a large housing estate.

Watch the Poet’s Corner transformation.

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