Katherine Mengardon

Hackney Young Voices

Head of Project with Arts Council, Hackney Council

It’s universally accepted that play is essential to children’s emotional, physical and cognitive development. Yet somewhere after early years, play, imagination and self-directed learning begin to disappear from schools — replaced by “serious subjects” and a pressure to perform.

Meanwhile, employers consistently list the skills they want most: communication, collaboration, problem-solving and innovation. In other words: the exact skills children develop when they’re allowed room to explore, imagine, make mistakes and try things their own way.

Between the ages of 8–16, young people are asked to make huge decisions about their future — at the very moment when they have the least creative freedom.

Hackney Young Voices was PlaySpace’s response to this.
Our aim: to bring creative autonomy back into classrooms and community spaces, and to show what young people are capable of when we trust them to lead their own learning.

I’m delighted to say they did not disappoint.
Quite the opposite — they blew us away.

The Workshops

PlaySpace designed and delivered three series of six workshops at:

  • William Patten Primary School
  • Stoke Newington School
  • Shakespeare Walk Adventure Playground (SWAPA)

Each series brought together young people and professional creatives to explore what creativity means — in both traditional and wonderfully non-traditional ways.

We invited participants to express themselves freely through:

  • drawing
  • character and story development
  • ideation
  • design thinking
  • playful experimentation
  • (and yes, the occasional biscuit)

Every group developed the concept, artwork and creative direction for three large-scale billboards, displayed across Hackney in August 2022.

The results were extraordinary: bold, thoughtful, imaginative pieces of public art that reflect the voices, humour and perspective of Hackney’s young people. They didn’t just rise to the challenge — they surpassed it.

Creative Collaborators

A core part of Hackney Young Voices was exposing young people to the breadth of creative careers, and to adults who understood what it feels like not to “fit”. We brought in an inspiring lineup of artists, writers and makers, including:

And in the category of “things we can’t quite believe happened”…
Wes Anderson himself took part in a video Q&A with our young creators — a moment of pure cinematic magic none of us will forget.

These creatives didn’t just talk about creativity; they modelled vulnerability, curiosity and the reality that many successful artists grew up feeling different too.

Why this project matters

Hackney Young Voices reminds us that when young people are trusted with real creative ownership, they produce work that is meaningful, surprising, and utterly original.

Their voices deserve to be seen — on billboards, in classrooms, in public spaces — and their ideas deserve to shape the places they live in.

You can explore the artwork and stories here:
👉 Hackney Young Voices Website