Chelmsford Explorers

An exhibition of the ideas and work of Young Urban Explorers will be running the High Chelmer shopping centre in a couple of weeks.  This will include drawings, models, signage, maps and photographs.  Produced by over 220 young people aged 11-19 in Chelmsford.

Underpass and crossing connecting Moulsham Street to central shopping area.

On 13th December a group of 24 graphics students from Chelmsford College explored Moulsham Street up to the town centre.    They are coming up with innovative signage ideas for this part of town and we hope to upload their designs soon.

Underpass under A1114- a route between schools and public green space

The exploration route from Sandon School was a great success.  Year 12 are now coming up with ideas for their area.

Explorer workshops due to start in St John Payne, Chelmsford College and Sandon School in October.  Art and design students will be working to come up with design ideas for their areas.

A lot has happened in the last few months but the blog has been quiet.  So I am updating you all.

Last month we were only the second project in the country to be awarded a further £5000 catalyst funding from the RSA.

With this money we are going to be running urban exploration workshops and developing design strategies within secondary schools from September 2011.  We are also going to develop a couple REAL spaces of potential within the town.

However more immediate and very exciting is the new Chelmsford Voices film which is going to be made by Young Explorers across the town.  If you are aged 13-19 and would like to help make a film which defines the voice of your town, download the leaflet by clicking on the Changing Chelmsford link on the Blogroll on the right and take part!

If you do not have access to a video facility on a mobile phone, please send us an email and we may be able to lend you a handheld camcorder.  Good luck and join in.  The film is going to be shown at the film festival in September.

CHELMSFORD YOUNG EXPLORERS DESIGN EVENT

Chelmsford Young Explorers design drop- in event took place on 21^st April 2011.  A busy day in the Easter holidays at the High Chelmer Shopping Centre proved to be just the right time to tap into the creative talents of the young people of Chelmsford.  The Explorer’s team took over a vacant shop unit for one day with the support of Mick McDonagh, manager of the centre.

We worked with the YMCA to create an idea shop and lounge space for young people to hang out for the day.  We covered an 8m length of wall floor to ceiling in drawing paper and called this the ‘Idea Wall’.  The YMCA set up a Wii and projector with beanbags at the rear of the shop unit.  We had a table covered with liquorice allsorts, marshmallows, plasticine and matchsticks to construct a mini-city in the shop window.

We wanted young people to grab a pen and to draw or write their ideas for Chelmsford on the Idea Wall.  The YMCA staff went out into the shopping centre and encouraged over 90 young people to draw on the wall and contribute their ideas for Changing Chelmsford.  Ideas included a forest in the centre of town, a temporary beach, urban lounges in vacant retail units, skydiving and a music venue run by teenagers.

Roger Estop, Chelmsford Borough Council’s Planning Design Manager came to the shop to chat with some of the young people.  Roger’s presence encouraged a member of the YMCA’s young carers’ group to discuss his idea for a sports facility on a derelict site near the railway station.  Roger also returned to draw the numbers of the four winners of iTunes vouchers out the hat at the end of the day.  Stephanie Mills, the project manager for Changing Chelmsford, helped and supported the process throughout, just as she had also done at the Explorer’s workshop in February.

We are in discussion with the RSA and Chelmsford Borough Council to see how these wonderful ideas can be exhibited and incorporated into the visioning process for Chelmsford. We are hugely grateful to Craig Gough at the YMCA for his support to this project.