On Friday 28 March, 38 enthusiastic young volunteers and 5 hard-working staff members from Optus RockCorps turned up bright and early at South Brisbane People’s Market at 15 Hope St. They arrived with paint, hammers, saws and drills in hand, ready to transform the sparse shop space into a colourful, warm and inviting community pop up shop.
Optus RockCorps is an initiative based on the concept of Give, Get Given. Young people sign up to volunteer on a community project for four hours, after which they receive a ticket to a music concert.
Within four hours, the young people managed to build a shop-front service table, two partitions, a welcome board and a planter box for the pop up shop. Additionally, they painted two decorative hangings for the space and chalk-decorated sections of the empty concrete block. The change to the ambience of the environment was phenomenal.
The South Brisbane People’s Market, based in a commercial space at Brisbane Common Ground, is Micah Projects’ early phase of what is hoped will grow to be a thriving, creative and inclusive space for everyone in the local community.
Micah Projects is a community organisation, based in South Brisbane, with an unswerving commitment to social justice. Micah Projects works with individuals, adults, children and families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The organisation provides a range of support and advocacy services as well as social inclusion activities to support vulnerable people in the local community.
Currently, every Thursday, from 11am until 3pm, the pop up shop sells fresh fruit and vegetables, ethically sourced from a local organisation, Food Connect, as well as freshly baked goods and condiments from Brisbane Common Ground’s chef Phyllis Patterson. Brisbane Common Ground is a supportive housing initiative which is home to 146 low-income and formerly homeless tenants.
It was great to see some of the tenants actively engage in RockCorps and it cannot be denied that the end result of all of the volunteers’ hard work and enthusiasm was well and truly worth it. Thank you to all who participated! We hope it was as rewarding for you as it was for the People’s Market!
One thought on “Optus rocks for Pop Up Shop”
Tony Robertson
8 April, 2014
I believe that the South Brisbane Peoples Market is promoted locally by a popular character, Bananaman. The “Bananman” can regularly be seen in the West End/South Brisbane streets on a Thursday and is available for selfies which can be uploaded to The Hive 4101 Facebook Page.
If you meet Bananaman in the street you can also collect a voucher for a 10% discount on purchases at The South Brisbane Peoples Market!! A selfie and a discount sounds like pretty good value!!!