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IN SINGAPORE • The Growing Years (7- 16 y/o) • Social Capital & Support

Tak Takut Kids Club

“TTKC is the ‘good gang in the neighbourhood’ for children to connect, grow and thrive. ”

Lin Shiyun, Founder and Executive Director, 3Pumpkins Limited

For children and youth who may lack consistent guidance and a stable family environment,  strong community relationships and support can have a transformative effect - nurturing them into confident and resilient individuals.
 
We are excited to support Tak Takut Kids Club, helmed by Philanthropreneur-in-Residence Lin Shiyun, in piloting a model of engagement that aims to develop an organic and resilient community support system for children and youth from rental households.

Shiyun is an arts producer, researcher, and practitioner in community arts and cultural development for children and youth. 
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Through engaging children at playgrounds in the rental flat estates of Toa Payoh, Lengkok Bahru, and Boon Lay, Shiyun identified a common issue: a lack of initiatives that nurtured a sense of belonging among children who felt disconnected from their homes and schools.

In 2019, she started Tak Takut Kids Club (TTKC) to examine whether a co-created children’s club, embedded in a rental flat community in Boon Lay Drive, would bring positive change to the environment and its young residents. In 2025, TTKC extended its reach by launching a second site at Lengkok Bahru.

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​Underpinning this unique child-centric and community-based approach is the belief that building trusting relationships and enabling the children to develop relatedness, autonomy and competence are key to them thriving. 

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​More than just a drop-in centre, TTKC – the flagship initiative of 3Pumpkins, a non-profit community arts and development organisation – recognises the need to build a village of care that respects, listens and responds to children. TTKC welcomes any child who walks in. Participatory activities that span across the arts, games, reading, sports and cooking are curated to meet the interests and needs of the community. This creates an inclusive and safe space where children can express and discover themselves as well as connect and learn from one another. 
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TTKC complements ComLink¹'s efforts in fostering integrated social support by bringing in child-centric perspectives and community-based interventions. Through daily interactions with children, TTKC can identify early and often unnoticed signs of distress, and help to coordinate interventions with relevant partners.

Outcomes

In the kitchen, TTKC children cooked together and picked up new skills.

2025 Outcomes:

Boon Lay 

  • Supported 291 children and families through TTKC programmes, including 172 centre engagement days.

  • Provided casework support to 77 children.

  • Collaborated with 71 community partners and engaged 242 volunteers (including 25 regular befrienders) to deliver integrated support.
     

Lengkok Bahru

  • Engaged 105 children and families.

  • Reached an average of 14 children per session through 42 three-hour outdoor engagements.

  • Provided casework support to 6 children.

  • Collaborated with 11 community partners and engaged 20 volunteers (including 4 regular befrienders) to deliver integrated support.
     

For children who attended TTKC for at least 3 years, outcomes based on Self-Determination Theory showed continued growth over the past year:

  • 52% reported greater autonomy through making better choices on their own. 

  • 52% experienced stronger relatedness by connecting and communicating more effectively with others.

  • 55% developed greater competence by discovering more of their talents, while 62% improved their skills and knowledge.

Learn More

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