Creative projects

Puppetry workshops for young people with special educational needs (SEN)

In addition to a group discussion, ten students aged 11 to 16 at The Bridge School participated in workshops with the Little Angel Theatre, where they created their own puppets and used them used to ‘act out’ their audio. The final result was recorded and created into a short video on YouTube.

Creative competition

We also ran a creative competition with under-18s so young people could visually express what a fair and equal future in Islington means to them. Fourteen young people entered the competition.

Submissions dealt with a range of important inequality-related issues such as the class gap, overcrowded housing and the climate emergency. Young people also considered the importance of community, green space and access to rights and opportunities.

Experiences of overcrowded housing

Participatory mapping is a technique that enables people to share experiences related to physical space.

Through this process of describing their lives in the borough, three residents living in overcrowded housing highlighted the trade-offs they are making in their choice of where to live and how to spend limited financial resources.

Many of the key themes overlap with those in the open survey, the relationship between housing, safety, community, transportation and the environment.  

Other creative activities

We organised other activities for different groups. Analysis of these activities is ongoing, and another report will be published with these findings.

• LGBTQ+ Videovoice: Nine residents were taught documentary filmmaking techniques and created short films about being LGBTQ+ in Islington. Participants applied and were selected through open recruitment. Watch the videos on the Videovoice YouTube channel.

• Storytelling with elders: Eleven residents, all over age 55, were interviewed using a personal memento to share their story of life in Islington. They then had their portraits taken with a personal memento. Participants were recruited through an older people’s lunch club in a deprived area in Hornsey. Watch the Celebrating ageing in Islington videos on Youtube. 

• Anthropology for kids: Year 6 students in Montem and Drayton Park primary schools participated in a series of lunchtime classes on anthropological methods. Students volunteered to take part. You can see video of the classes on Youtube.