Story Contributed by Shariffah, Community Worker
Paper bats trembled under the ceiling fans, orange ribbons curled like playful shadows, and a cardboard “haunted corner” stood proudly at Blk 125 – pieced together from recycled boxes, leftover paint, and more imagination than materials.
A small group of mothers moved through the space with the ease of people who had done this many times. The monthly birthday celebration had become a neighbourhood rhythm, and while Beyond supported where needed, the momentum came from residents themselves. Over the months, the mothers had begun setting aside small amounts into a shared kitty, joined by neighbours who wanted the gatherings to grow. A simple, communal way to keep joy steady.
The Halloween edition held last month drew more than fifty people. Children darted between games, youths guided the younger ones, elderly neighbours sat comfortably at the centre of it all, and volunteers filled in wherever they were needed. The void deck felt alive in a way that only happens when a place knows its people well. The Halloween theme came simply from timing – an easy excuse to make the month’s gathering feel a little more special – yet there was a quiet historical parallel in all this.
In the 1920s, towns across the U.S. revived trick-or-treating and organised Halloween parties to keep children engaged and in sight. These gatherings made young people visible, included, and part of something shared. Neighbours offered small treats, streets stayed calm, and what began as modest community efforts eventually shaped the Halloween tradition widely celebrated in Western cultures today.
In their own way, the residents of Blk 125 were doing something similar – bringing more treats than tricks into their neighbourhood by creating a space where children could grow up in the sight of caring adults.
This instinct, that community brings out the best in its young people, runs deep in Beyond’s history too.
In 2011, Beyond made a deliberate shift toward community development: seeing social issues as opportunities for people to work together, and recognising that neighbourhoods already held strengths long before any programme arrived. The work grew toward building communities from the inside-out, supported from the outside-in, guided by the skills, aspirations, and care that residents naturally bring.
Over the years, this approach has shaped countless initiatives that strengthened informal support networks and nurtured youth leadership. It created foundations that carried neighbourhoods through celebrations, challenges, and everything in between.
And here, under fluttering paper bats and hand-drawn pumpkins, that approach was at work once more. A monthly celebration held together by many hands, offering children a place to belong and neighbours a reason to gather. A little light in the dark, and on that October evening, just the right kind of magic.