Since the beginning of year, we have been making our way into the heart of communities across Thurrock to engage local citizens in shaping the direction of cultural activities in the area. From January to May 2024, we popped up in Thurrock to host several Talkaoke sessions and get familiar with local attitudes, aspirations and anxieties. Together we explored what a shared process of cultural decision-making can look like and presented locals with the results of our collective creative brainstorming.
“It’s absolutely central to our work that Start Thurrock’s creative and cultural offer is shaped by residents. Working with The People Speak really helped us reach into communities and genuinely listen to what is important to local people and what creative projects they want for their area. Talkaoke is a really effective and inclusive way for creative ideas to be shared and expressed, giving Start Thurrock rich insights and understanding to act on” – Roxie Curry, Start Thurrock who commissioned the project.
We kicked off our series of Talkaoke sessions at the Chadwell St Mary’s Village Hall. The event saw attendees from neighbouring towns including Chadwell St Mary, Grays, and Stanford-le-Hope. We heard from citizens, young and old and as with all our Talkaoke sessions, the topics were chosen by the participants and ranged from local history to what a future sculptural monument in Thurrock might look like. There to capture the essence of our conversations was our talented visualiser Christopher Gerhardt.
