Project Type:
Book Project, Community Engagement

Dates:
July–November 2018

Participant Group:
Children living in emergency accommodation

Artists:
Maree Hensey, Mary Branley

Partners:
Focus Ireland

Funders:
Focus Ireland and Bord Gáis Energy

I Hope you Grow

Kids’ Own’s strong rights-based approach informed our desire to work with children experiencing homelessness, and to support them to have a voice and to be more visible within mainstream society. We worked in partnership with Focus Ireland – a key agency challenging homelessness in Ireland – to develop this project, with a shared ethos of respect and inclusion; and valuing all children’s right to culture.

Rose Petals, 2018 | I Hope You Grow | Kids' Own Publishing Partnership
Handle With Care, 2018 | I Hope You Grown | Kids' own Publishing Partnership
Watery Person, 2018 | I Hope You Grow | Kids' Own Publishing Partnership
How do you make art?, 2018 | I Hope You Grow | Kids' Own Publishing Partnership
Image of I Hope You Grow Book Cover | Focus Ireland | Kids' Own
Octavian at the launch of 'I Hope You Grow', 2018 | Kids' Own Publishing Partnership
 

“It was like a piece of glass shattering.”

The project took place in July 2018, when a group of fifteen children living in temporary accommodation were invited to work with writer Mary Branley and artist Maree Hensey to develop poetry, artwork and stories and make their very own book. The work was very process-based, with explorations of the rose garden, meditations, dialogue and ink drawings among some of the activities they engaged in.

The book, I Hope You Grow, was subsequently launched at the Mansion House, Dublin on 9th November 2018 by Colm O’Gorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland and author Alan Nolan, and has since received much publicity and acclaim.

Fifty percent of the proceeds from the sale of the book will go to Focus Ireland to support their ongoing work with homeless children and families.

I Hope You Grow is available in our bookshop.

 

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