A yarning circle designed to encourage connections and communication between the residents of AnglicareSA’s Post Care Pathways program is the latest installation of an interactive Greening Project.

Just two weeks after the planting of hundreds of native plants around the apartment complex in the southwestern suburbs, AnglicareSA Senior Strategic Cultural Advisor – First Nations, Clyde Rigney, led the design and construction of the yarning circle set at the base of a grand fig tree in the garden.

“Storytelling is a big part of First Nations culture,” Clyde said. “Sharing of culture and history was not necessarily a written history; it is about the sharing of intergenerational stories and knowledge.

“The yarning circle is a contemporary kind of version of that, getting young people from all different walks of life and cultural backgrounds interacting with the oldest living culture of these lands and waters, through sharing their stories.

“I just find that yarning circles have a real kind of therapeutic benefit by coming together and connecting in a designated space.”

The yarning circle’s initial design will be continuously developed in collaboration with the young people living in the apartment complex to ensure they have a full sense of ownership of the space.

The yarning circle is now complementing the work already in place as part of the Greening Project, which has been widely supported by Green Adelaide, well known gardening expert Sophie Thomson, community members, as well as businesses coming on board to donate items.

Clyde said he hoped that as the yarning circle was developed, it would encourage relationship building and a place that could be used for communication through the good times and tough times.

“The good thing about the symbolism, particularly in First Nations art and culture, is that it is starting to become more and more prevalent.

“So here we are taking some of those symbols and trying to incorporate them into the design, but really it is more about reflecting this small community and coming together, connecting the seats within the circle.”

AnglicareSA Leaving Care Project Worker Rebecca Walker, who helped kickstart the Greening Project with the support of Sophie said the yarning circle was always an integral part of Sophie’s original garden plan.

“Around 40 per cent of young people living in care and at our Post Care Pathways site are First Nations,” Rebecca said.

“It is essential when young people come to live here there are visual cultural elements to connect with and create an important sense of belonging.”

Post Care Pathways is an award-winning housing first initiative developed by AnglicareSA and Believe Housing Australia to support young people who have had a lived care experience between the ages of 18 and 25.