Pieces of Sky

Projects

Light Me

Literally across the road from an inner city skateboard park are the doors of the A&E Unit of the Nelson Hospital in London. On a weekly, almost daily basis, skateboarders pass through those doors to be treated for cuts, scrapes and broken bones.

However, it’s not the skateboarding that’s the issue. It’s the lack of lighting. The skateboard park is the only facility in the area where young people can hang out and where parents can find them instead of having to search the streets. Unfortunately the site doesn’t have any lighting so as the days shorten with the seasons the boarders carry on into the early night. When someone gets hurt that’s the signal to stop, but someone always gets hurt and it’s costing the Primary Care Trust a small fortune.

Pieces of Sky has been working with the young people to document their need for lights through photography and help them to influence local decision makes to put some money aside for solar lighting. It’s a win-win outcome. The skateboarders are safer, parents know where their kids are and the PCT saves money.