THE hall is quiet at first. The group of teenage girls, here for the first time, whisper to each other or stare at the floor as artist Toni Dickinson explains why they are here.

Within an hour all that reticence has been replaced by the excited chatter that punctuates the industrious air of creativity on the first taster day staged by Swindon Scrapstore at Pinetrees Community Centre in Pinehurst.

The community project is being funded with £5,000 from the Wiltshire Community Foundation, using money from the government’s #iwill fund, drawing on money from The Big Lottery and the Office for Civil Action.

The teenagers taking part in the scheme will devise, design and lead the project, which runs over the summer. They will be expected to work out the budget, invite participants and talk them through the creative process at a community day in August.

Toni, who is a portrait artist, said: “They will be leading everything that happens, it’s all down to them – with a bit of guidance from us. They will be coming up with all the ideas and then they will be telling the community all about how they did it.”

Swindon Scrapstore chief executive Olivia McCann said: “Many of the young people we will work with have nothing to do during the school holidays. Over the years so many youth services have been cut and play parks have closed which has resulted in reducing the opportunities for young people to have access to free local activities.

“The need for this project came from conversations with family workers and youth workers who reported that families can fall apart during the school holidays facing increased emotional and financial pressures.

“The project is not only about learning new art skills and creating artwork but also about giving the young people the opportunity to lead the project, to make their own decisions and the freedom to express themselves. Evaluations on previous projects have shown that young people feel better about themselves when they are given the opportunity to take the lead and shine in their community.

“They might not have holidays or get out like most kids of their age,” added Toni, “they really don’t have very much at all and this gives them something to look forward to. We don’t know the story behind them, which is better because we can treat them all the same.”

Toni and her husband Gordon, who have a studio in Purton, work with the teenagers to engage them in the creative process and unlock their artistic abilities. They find that many of the young people don’t even know they have a talent until they are given the freedom of expression they may not get among their peers at school.

“We don’t tell them what to do, they are allowed free reign creatively, there is no right and wrong,” said Gordon, a sculptor and painter whose work is on display at the Oink Gallery in Swindon’s Old Town.

He rebelled against regimented art lessons at school and only flourished as an artist in later life after a career as a railway worker. He said he can empathise with the teenagers he encourages. “I didn’t want to draw what I was told to draw so I just didn’t do it. These girls might be the same so here they can just be creative and discover what they want to do,” he said.

The first week was about the girls getting to know one another and coming up with a list of people they want to invite to the community day on August 21.

They will get back together in August to create the artwork before it goes on show to the community.

Olivia said the project is not just about inspiring art. “These days young people spend a lot of time sat on their computers, they don’t socialise. This project gets them together with other,” she said.

“They don’t get the opportunities to do many things that test them and for that reason they don’t have the social skills or the confidence. We don’t know what is going on at home or what they are going through at school. This is an amazing opportunity that will allow them to be creative but will also get them working with others.”

She said the project is not just about providing a few weeks of summer entertainment. “You can see the difference in them between the start of the project and the end of it,” she said, “it grows their self-esteem and they have new friends and who knows how many of them will go on to do more art? They are in control of this instead of being told what to do and that will stay with them for a long time.”

She added: “We are very excited about the project and to be working in partnership with No Added Sugar once again. We aim to discuss the benefits of the project with Swindon Borough Council to find ways to enable us to continue funding for the project so it can become a regular event for young people to attend which we hope will benefit, more young people and increase youth social action.”

The Scrapstore has been in operation since 1985 and is run by the community for the community. The charity benefits over 50,000 people in Swindon and surrounding areas through the resources and services they provide.

The Scrapstore runs a multitude of projects dedicated to directly benefitting the local people and communities including the Scrapstore resource centre, arts and craft shop, community repaint scheme, office furniture reuse project, I.T refurbishing ‘Project Reboot’ which provides low cost computers and laptops and Scrappers Boxing Gym and Community Fitness Centre.

For more information about Swindon Scrapstore go to scrapstore.co.uk. For more information about #iwill funding or to donate to future projects, go to wiltshirecf.co.uk.