What Is HEARD?

HEARD is a special project for the people of Luton, Chatham. It’s a chance for us to listen to what the people of Luton want and then do something about it. We did this in three steps, or phases.

Phase 1: Listening to Ideas

In the first phase, we held fun workshops called “Imagination Spaces.” We did all kinds of cool stuff:

  • Artist Xtina Lamb worked with children at Luton Primary School to make over 80 luminous paper moths 
  • We had a night event called “Luminous Luton” where the magical glow moths lit up the park. There was music, dancing, face painting, and glowing torches!
  • We also held workshops like “Bioluminescent Garden” and “Green Spaces Mapping.”

Phase 2: What People Wanted

In this phase, we officially launched HEARD! We met with 34 people from the community. We listened to what they thought the area needed and what we should do next.

We heard from different artists who had worked with communities on projects that included dance, planting gardens, and making sounds. All of these projects helped the community in some way. They gave people a voice or brought them together to play games. You can find out more about the projects we heard about here

At the end of these meetings, we asked everyone what kind of change they wanted to see in their area. Three main ideas came up:

  • Dealing with litter.
  • Creating youth programs like a youth centre or skills classes.
  • Having a multicultural event to celebrate the different cultures, food, and dance of the people in Luton.

We had an amazing artist named “James the Scribe” who drew and wrote down all the ideas and discussions. He made everything super fun! You can see his awesome work here!

Phase 3: Making a Difference

We decided we were best at helping with the litter problem. So, we created a unique plan to:

  • Help community awareness of the litter problem.
  • Get people to help clean up.
  • Make public spaces nicer.
  • Help people feel proud of their neighbourhood.
  • Work with people, businesses, and the council to keep things clean.
  • Make sure the people helping feel good and stay healthy, both in their bodies and minds.

We’re doing three cool things in this phase:

  1. “Litter Picks with a Twist”: We’re not just picking up trash! We’re bringing along Rupert Oldridge, a world-champion beatboxer, to make it more fun. Picking up litter helps you get some exercise, and doing it together helps build a stronger community.
  2. “Talking Bins”: We’re going to turn the trash bins on Luton Road into sound systems! When you put trash in, the bin might thank you or play a message from local kids. This helps everyone feel more connected to their neighbourhood.
  3. Creative Workshops: We’ll use the waste we collect to create things that can trigger these special messages in the bins. We will also bring artists and Rupert the beatboxer into schools to record messages from kids about their hopes and dreams for their neighbourhood. This helps the young people feel a greater sense of ownership and pride in their community.

To see exactly what we are measuring and how we are aiming to improve health and wellbeing throughout this project, click here

We hope this project will make Luton a cleaner, happier place for everyone!

If you’d like to stay updated on our progress, you can sign up for our monthly newsletter. Just send an email to wayne@ideastest.co.uk.

This project is part of the creative health and wellbeing programme sponsored by Medway Council.



Join our Litter Picks with a twist!