With a growing population that triples in summer and limited resources, Martin Chetcuti roped in St Paul’s Bay residents to turn a centre for social services into a meeting place for anyone aged between six and 83.

“Every person is a resource and should not be seen as a miskin [someone to be pitied]. At the centre, we need to make an effort to listen to people and residents need to get involved,” Mr Chetcuti, manager of the Qawra Aċċess Centre said.

“The strength in this place does not lie in the funding but the community’s human resources.”

Behind him, a group of children are being shown how to spray graffiti on used tyres stacked on each other to form a large plant pot.

For this project, funded by the President’s Creativity Award, some 100 tyres dumped across the locality were collected to build the pots and people aged between six and 83 were guided by graffiti artist James Micallef Grimaud to decorate them.

We didn’t want to create a specific project for foreigners; I don’t like pigeonholing people- Martin Chetcuti

“We turned something that was challenging the environment into an item that will benefit the environment,” Mr Chetcuti said.

Blooming from a small summer resort into the second most populated locality with 100 different nationalities has also proved challenging.

A tree has been planted at Kennedy Grove Park for every nationality as a symbolic reminder of the multiculturalism in the region butsomething had to be done to integrate the community.

“The effect of multiculturalism was certainly felt but we turned this challenge into an opportunity to engage with even more residents,” said Mr Chetcuti.

“We didn’t want to create a specific project for foreigners; I don’t like pigeonholing people. Integration has to be natural. This meant non-Maltese had to get to know more about Maltese norms, values and culture.

“This then led to other events where different cultures came together – if only for a night – to try out different cuisines and watch ethnic dance from Russia, North Africa and Malta.”

Experimenting with spray paint. Photos: Chris Sant Fournier

The finished result at the Qawra Aċċess Centre in St Paul’s Bay.

The centre is one of four in Malta that provides social services (the others are in Cottonera, Valletta and Msida), including those provided by Appoġġ, the Employment Training Corporation, the Housing Authority and the Department for Social Security. It also hosts a Foundation for Educational Services’ childcare centre for children under the age of three, an Aġenzija Żgħażagħ youth cafe and lifelong learning classes.

Officially opened in 2008, the place has been managed for four years by Mr Chetcuti, who graduated in youth and community studies.

The rest of the staff – customer care, administration, cleaning and maintenance – are employed through the ETC community working scheme so they can gain work experience and, one day, be able to become gainfully occupied.

Mr Chetcuti insists the centre does not work for people but with people.

He “does not dream up projects from the armchair” but involves residents when taking decisions, as they are ultimately the stakeholders of the centre’s service.

And if Mr Chetcuti is not at his desk, residents can jot down their thoughts directly on the wall outside his office.

The ‘Expression Wall’ is repainted every month and residents can write or draw their suggestions according to a monthly theme, like integration or blood donation.

In the past three years alone, St Paul’s Bay saw an increase of 4,568 residents for a total population of 21,046, according to the latest data.

In summer, Mr Chetcuti said, this tripled to about 60,000.

To identify the community’s changing needs, the centre has its own working groups, including one for different nationalities called Paċi Group, made up of people from the UK, Brazil, the Philippines and Morocco, among others.

Following meetings with the group, the centre started Maltese and English language lessons through the Lifelong Learning Directorate.

The youth cafe had also originated from a project funded by the President’s Creativity Award, where young people expressed the need for an open space where they could meet, something that was lacking in the region.

More information is available on www.facebook.com/pages/Qawra-Access-Centre/142559209136988?fref=ts.