Neighbour Day competition FTW!

As part of celebrating Neighbour Day, Brisbane City Council ran a competition for young people under 18. ‘Stories from my street’ gave young people of Brisbane the opportunity to share stories about what they love about their street, neighbours, or share house or tell us how they met their neighbours and what Neighbour Day means to them.

Check out the other entries and have a listen to Shannon’s winning song about Neighbour Day here:

My Neighbourhood by Shannon Becquigny

We asked Shannon a few quick questions when she came in to collect her prize.

1. When did you first become interested in music?
I’ve always been interested in music, ever since I can remember!  I have long-ago memories of singing nursery rhymes and times tables.  However, I have become more serious about it in the last couple of years.  I wrote my first song in year 4 and did my first recording in year 6.  Since then I’ve been writing and recording a lot – at home and school, and even in the car or on the bus I jot down ideas for my next song.  I find it relaxing and enjoyable to be able to let out emotions through songs.  I play cello and piano, and sing of course, and I love the feeling of achievement once I’ve really nailed a difficult piece or completed a new song.  I’m in several ensembles at school, and really enjoy music camps.

2. What do you want to be doing in 5yrs?
In 5 years I hope to be at university studying music, or better still, in a recording studio recording my songs professionally.  I want people to hear my songs because if I enjoy and have fun writing and recording them, I think people would have enjoy and have fun listening to them.

3. How did you find out about Neighbour Day?
I found out about Neighbour Day by reading about it on the Visible Ink website after my mum handed me the ad from my school newsletter.

4. What made you enter the Neighbour Day competition?
I enjoy entering competitions and liked the way this one sounded – being able to be as creative and original as I could.  I love writing and recording songs so I thought it would be a great opportunity to record one for the competition, especially as I’d never considered writing a song about my neighbourhood before.  It was an excellent experience and a pleasant change from my usual style.

5. Do you think its important for young people to know their neighbours? Why?

I think it’s important for young people to know their neighbours because there are so many interesting people around us! Those people could live their lives and not be noticed by us, which would be a shame because it would be sad to not know such interesting people.  There is so much you can learn from new people – people who do or see things differently.  It can bring a whole new perspective or way of looking at things which you may not have known before.  Also, if you’re living in the same street as someone, it’s good to be friendly with them.  It makes the world a better place and has many advantages!

Visible Ink :: Visible Leaders

Participants from the Visible Leaders program…

Young people leading the way

The Visible Leaders program is a way for you to be involved in shaping Brisbane for the future. Have you ever wanted to design, plan and deliver your own cool workshops or creative music and cultural events? Then the Visible Leaders program that was run from Visible Ink Zillmere might be what you are looking for. You can come and be a part of the Visible Leaders project and learn the skills that you need to create and run your own awesome event.

The Visible Leaders project supports you in a bunch of ways. These help with everything from:

• Accessing event management training opportunities
• Developing group and leadership skills
• Connecting with other young people, workers and services across Brisbane
• Understanding other cultures
• Designing, planning and delivering a community event

Visible Leaders have already been involved in a bunch of activities for young people. The Krumping Around Street Party was organised by Visible Leaders through a lot of time, energy and creative thinking. It  was a major success: with over 100 young people coming and having a mad time. Bands, pizza and krumping combined to show how young people in Brisbane can work together, have fun and shape a friendly and safe city for the future. Check out more information about Visible Leaders here.