For years, the idea of a dedicated writing centre for children has been on the ‘to-do’ lists of many in the community, and when a shop at 126 Margaret Street became vacant, it meant ACTION! 

 

The Child Writes Fund Pty Ltd, as a registered ACNC charity, is the driver of the project. 

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The Lighthouse Toowoomba – a home for creativity with a dedicated youth writing centre, workshops spaces and an exhibition gallery - is the result of a great deal of love and input from creatives in the Toowoomba community. The space is generously expansive and all of the fixtures and fittings were gifted by the previous tenants. Children have contributed at every stage of the process, from creating a vast array of products for our Explorer's Emporium shop, highlighting 'must-haves' in the youth writers centre fit-out.

 

The Child Writes Fund has partnered with Book Links (given their amazing work in Queensland since 2006), and is inspired by the ‘how-to’ Unnecessarily Beautiful Spaces for Minds on Fire by Dave Eggers and Amanda Uhle (Edited by the International Alliance of Youth Writers Centres) as an exploration of spaces created around the globe. Actually, everyone involved is incredibly inspired, and hope to inspire others from this moment onwards.  This is the first of its kind in regional Australia, and follows the success of the Story Factory in Sydney and the 100 Story Building in Melbourne.      

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The Lighthouse Toowoomba is open to discussing any collaboration with organisations

and charities in Toowomba working with children in crisis. We start each day with 'how can we help?'.

 

Email us hello@thelighthousetoowoomba.org and let's see what we can do together

to enhance the lives of our children.