So I’m new to writing for the London Road Station Partnership blog- I guess that’s because this time last week I didn’t really know about the partnership. My name is Orla Byrne, and I’m one of the 12 young volunteers currently working at the station for the duration of this week as part of a summer course that we’ve been participating in- the National Citizen Service- and in partnership with Albion in the Community.

When we got the chance to look at different projects in and around Brighton, and were asked to consider which one we most felt we could contribute to and make successful, the opportunity to paint a mural and revamp the station seemed to jump out of the page. The brief suggested an opportunity for creativity and a real sense of community, and having only been here for a day so far, we’ve not been let down.

Our plan for the week is to create a mosaic mural in the subway at the station, and we feel that this will not only bring vibrancy to the previously drab area of the station, but also that the mural that we have designed will show the strong partnership which has been forged by the two organisations that made this opportunity possible for us- LRSP and Albion in the Community. The design, shown below, ties in the idea of seagulls and the logo of Brighton Albion with imagery of flowers and nature, now found around the station thanks to the work of LRSP, and the multi coloured wave background not only gives a bright and cheerful tone to the piece, but the waves echo an image often associated with Brighton as a city.

We arrived at the station today at midday, and set to work, all kitted up in our immensely trendy hi-visibility jackets. Our creative team- Izzy, Alice and Mairead- set to work with our team leader Amie to start transferring the outline of the mural onto the board that had been mounted in the subway, whilst the rest of the group grabbed our hoes and trowels and set to work weeding the station platforms and the area at the front of the station.

The time seemed to fly by, but as we finished our work and were able to admire a clearer and more aesthetically pleasing environment the design had been transferred onto the wall, and we came together to discuss our plans for the Big Mosaic Day- tomorrow!

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As well as writing this blog daily for the duration of the project, as part of the external communication role in my team, we’ve set up a twitter account! We’re hoping that this will spread word of the work we are doing, so the local and wider community can be fully aware of what (and why) we are doing, and fully benefit from our project. This also means that people who are invested in our project being a success can watch our work as it progresses and I document it in real time.

@a_team_7

is the place to be for updates and pictures of our project as it grows throughout the week, and also if you want to ask the team questions about our project.

So, thanks for reading, and I hope that you follow this project throughout the week, both on twitter and here on the LRSP blog as I write about the work we are doing, as we do it!