Community spirit sparkles at Fremantle

A very special kind of disco and party for the safeSPACETM children and the local community took place at Fremantle PCYC early in December. The party was hosted as a fundraiser for PCYC by local business Born to Sparkle, a specialist in body art and glitter ‘tattoos’ for special occasions. And it was an opportunity for the owner Belle MacColl to say thanks to PCYC for support during what she describes as “the darkest time in my life.”

Five years ago, single Mum Belle was on her way to pick up her six-year-old daughter Miley from day care. But Belle didn’t make it to the day care centre when her car was hit head on by another car that careered onto the wrong side of the road.

Belle was seriously injured and spent two months in hospital while Miley stayed with relatives. When Belle returned home, she couldn’t work at all. She had very little money. She sometimes was short of food and couldn’t play with Miley as she had previously.

Prior to Belle’s accident, Miley had been doing gymnastics at PCYC and Belle contacted PCYC to say she wouldn’t be able to attend any more.

“That’s when things started to turn around,” says Belle. “They told me about the safeSPACETM program for kids and they provided so much support to both of us.”

With Miley going to PCYC after school and loving the fun activities at safeSPACETM, Belle felt more positive and started experimenting with body art which she had always been interested in. Sometimes, she would paint Miley’s face, just for fun for both of them.

Those moments of fun turned into a business that has become very successful and Belle and her team at Born to Sparkle wanted to give back to Fremantle PCYC.

“PCYC was there for me in my darkest time and no-one will ever know how much it meant for us to feel that we were still part of a community,” says Belle.

The Born to Sparkle party focused on safeSPACETM participants aged 5 to 12 years but included all PCYC kids with community members attending for a gold coin donation to PCYC.

Nicky Duffy, Fremantle PCYC Centre Manager, said: “The story of Belle and her ongoing relationship with us, is one of many. PCYC is part of the fabric of the local community here.

“We are so grateful to Belle for giving back to PCYC and providing our safeSPACETM kids with something all kids should be able to look forward to, a party. They loved it!”