Set up by Troy Woodhouse, Glenn Woodall and Louise Mills, the organisation combines educational platforms with basketball to engage local communities with their projects, and encourages children to put down their devices and get outside and exercise in the fresh air.
For the project, the trio teamed up with Green Communities in Plymouth - an initiative that brings people and nature together - to run a free creative workshop, asking the local community to design and come up with a name for a basketball court. The turnout was incredible and exceeded expectations, with over 30 designs submitted.
Finally, the Creative Crossover team settled on the final masterpiece - a giant fox, a ladybird and a colourful rainbow.
“The response from the community has been lovely," said Mills, who is the communication and well-being director.
"We’ve had so many people showing interest in the court while we’ve been painting, from children and their parents to dog walkers and people using the skate park. All commenting on the difference it has made to the area and how they are looking forward to using it, or seeing it in use. This has been one of our goals from the beginning and has made all the hard work worthwhile”.
Holly Maher, a member of Green Communities Natural Infrastructure Planning Team, said: “It's been incredible to see the community come together for this mural. Seeing the kids’ bright and colourful nature-themed designs come to life on the court has been amazing, and that fox design is so cute! The team at Creative Crossover have done a fantastic job, and it's been a pleasure to work with them.”
“Our goal is to take any disused courts, multi-use games areas or uninspired areas in and around Plymouth and turn them into a beautiful piece of art that the community can help design through our free creative workshops and then go and play basketball on it – hopefully inspiring a new generation of basketball players in the city," added Woodhouse, Creative Crossover's educational and creative director.
The CIC's Director of Physical Education, Woodall, said the 'amazing project' had been years in the making.
“Troy and I are both huge basketball fans, and have been talking about this for years. To see the idea become reality is unbelievable, and we are all incredibly proud of our achievement."
Find out more about Creative Crossover via the link below.
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