From unleash 16 December 2011-January 2012
by Pia Birac, who felt honoured to be a part of Lyrric’s story
How can a twelve year old girl from Taree make a difference in the lives of young people living in her community? Well, just ask Lyrric Marr.
In February 2011, YAPA announced that it would be running its third year of Youth Participation Grants. The Youth Participation Grants Program gives young people the power and the resources to develop and implement community projects in their local area.
The requirements for the grants were as follows:
- The project must benefit the community
- The idea (and application) must come from young people
- The project must, in some way or another, increase community interaction
This year, the program was open to young people living in NSW aged nine to eighteen.
Twelve year old Lyrric applied for a grant to run her project, Refuge for Kids, writing in her application, “We have found that many of our friends and young people we know have unhappy family lives … Our friends feel very sad and don’t feel they can do happy things. Our big aim is to show our local community that we young people can organize a fun happening which helps us with our self esteem and confidence.”
She continued, “We want to show the wider community that Koori kids don’t all run the streets causing trouble, even though their lives at home might be sad.”
She was granted $1000 by YAPA to make her project proposal a reality.
On 8 July 2011 I flew to Taree to see Lyrric complete her project. It was NAIDOC Week and she had organized an art competition and a fashion parade to be held alongside the many other events planned for the big celebrations that day.
A group of about eight young girls from the area, including Lyrric, took part in the fashion parade, wearing clothes sourced from a local second hand clothing store. An international model shared some pre-show tips on how to ‘work the room’, while makeup artists gave demonstrations and advice on skin care and makeup techniques.
People from all over the community showed up in support, enjoying pre-show entertainment and snacking on post-show nibblies.
The girls looked stunning as they braved the makeshift catwalk, with most of the girls having to conquer some serious nerves in walking down the runway. It is not often that these young girls are given the opportunity to be involved in something so lighthearted and fun.
For Lyrric, though, this event wasn’t just about fun. She wanted to prove that she and other Koori people are capable of creating positive happenings in the community. And she was proven right.
Congratulations to Lyrric and her amazing support team for pulling off such a great project. I know that this isn’t the last we will see of Lyrric Marr - it’s just the first of many more amazing things to come!
Sadly there are no grants available at the moment. If YAPA is able to offer grants in the future, we will let you know in unleash and on our website.