Magic Me and a Leyton primary school brought pupils and residents together to build a more connected community.
George Mitchell Primary School in Leyton was the key school partner in this two year programme, which began with three separate projects. Generations United saw primary school pupils and members of Leyton Orient Walking Football Club thinking about Games, Play and Teamwork through portraiture and murals. Wonderful Wednesdays had Year 3 pupils making puppets and photographs with adults from a local extra care scheme; and Our Celebrations was an intergenerational costume and storytelling project.
To celebrate the end of the first year of Quality Street, we gathered all the artworks created during those three separate projects into one festival. Over 300 participants – pupils, friends, family and neighbours took part in one joyful fun-day which involved processessions, percussion, kites, costumes, bunting and the unveiling of a new mural in the school playground. We called our festival Meet the Street.
We, as a school, feel very privileged to have been chosen to be part of this intergenerational project over the next two years. It is so important for our children to value older people in our community and to learn from them but also have a unique opportunity to work closely with them together for a goal they will all be part of and enjoy
This was a very enjoyable and rewarding project for us all. We all commented on how polite the boys were and how well they engaged and communicated with us. Interaction between the generations was very natural and the boys gained in confidence throughout the project. We were very impressed with the way the boys spoke of their family roots and their understanding of diversity. We all felt the boys were a credit to their school and their families.
Our puppets, kites and dragons have been both a means for exploring who we are as a group and finding out what we can make together that is unique to us. The wild and wonderful characters are a reflection of the eclectic mix of fun, exploration, and sharing that has made up our sessions.
Covid disrupted the second year of Quality Street when it hit in 2020. Thanks to the ingenuity of our artists and the resilience of our staff and participants, we managed to adapt the project to cope with lockdowns and restrictions. Activity-packs-by-post encouraged participants to draw the stories of their street to be combined in an animated film; pop up craft gardens toured the neighbourhood on a bike parade; phone conversations between participants were turned into a ‘zine.
Memories of the pandemic will take a long time to assimilate, but from that uncertain and frightening period we remember one of our participants telling us ‘Being able to talk to people has picked me up and kept me connected to the community’. We are proud of the part Magic Me played in keeping friends and neighbours together during a difficult time.
Quality Street was a 2018-2020 project, developed and supported through Trusts & Foundation funding, particularly the L&Q Foundation. Learn more about how to support our work below.
