Listen Up! Events are run in the Free2b Way.

Expression and collaboration - 2 ingredients Free2b Girls loves when baking creation cakes. In our girls groups, there’s a lot going on -  ideas, moods, feelings, excitement -  often all being expressed at the same time. Walking into a group, many may just see chaos. Look a bit closer and there’s co-creation happening. Food is being cooked, art materials are being used, conversations are being had…there’s vibrancy in the air. By the end of 2 hours, something always happens. A painting created, a cake baked, an argument resolved, a cubby made. Listen Up! events are organised to enable a place for expression and collaboration so we can create things together.

Our First Listen Up! Event in 2020, was inspired by a reoccurring question Tani was being asked in her community -“What are you going to do about boys?”. She learnt to have several answers to this up her sleeve, depending on who was asking: “I’m just trying to bring my own boys up at the moment…that’s enough right now!”, “If you can find me some great men to do something with boys, I might be able to help out”, “ I think girls just deserve a bit of focus at the moment”. But the one she ended up falling back on most was “ I’m really not sure…what are you going to do about boys?”. Then she ran a Listen Up! Event to celebrate Womens Voices on International Womens Day and the community came up with some awesome ideas for supporting youth in general. In 3 years, all of those ideas have started to manifest!