WALKING, TALKING + MAKING
10th JUNE to 1st AUGUST 2021
The 7th year of T100 festival fun is over for another year!
With a series of specially curated walks, T100 Dreaming invited communities and artists to come together to share their dreams, celebrate community spirit and imagine a more creative and sustainable future.
Along with inspiration sessions for artists and creative workshops for community groups, the festival was delighted to be able to provide mentoring support for 4 new walk leaders from diverse communities in partnership with Active Essex, Essex Cultural Diversity Project and Living London. This aimed to shine a light upon people with different backgrounds, from varied places and cultures, who make their homes in Thurrock.
This year the innovative approach of pairing local artists with walk leaders led to the walks becoming more interactive, with talks and artist-led activities on route and not just at the end. Some people joined in with the activity pack (still available to download below), and even more chose to get involved in person.
Thurrock Yacht Club quite literally flew the flag for T100 throughout June and July, and welcomed us to their clubhouse in Grays, while Essex Wildlife Trust volunteers provided an insightful tour of Langdon Hills Nature Reserve, Regency Dance performed a ‘dreaming dance’ in East Tilbury, lots of food outlets got involved with the Grays taste trail, as well as East Tilbury Primary School, Ockendon Children’s Centre, Young Carers and more benefitted from creative workshops.
Very popular this year, tickets remained free due to the generous support of funders and partners, and were booked up quickly as people were keen to stretch their legs after lockdown.
T100Dreaming was funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, Arts Council England, Active Essex and Thurrock council with additional contributions for creative elements from the Port of Tilbury, Thameside Theatre and Riverside Community. The impactful project with Tilbury youth ‘Tilbury is the Place for Me’ was part of Shout Out Loud, English Heritage’s national youth engagement programme and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Kick the Dust strand.
This year, the festival partnered with a much larger creative walking event called Beach of Dreams, which expanded our walking talking and making concept from Thurrock all the way up the coast to Lowestoft, resulting in new partnerships and receiving national news coverage.
An exceptional grand finale at Tilbury Fort brought T100 Dreaming to a close on 1st August. Mayor of Thurrock, Sue Shinnick, attended the widely anticipated finale and witnessed the last steps of both festivals being taken into the historic Fort, as walkers were met with a host of musicians, giant dancing puppets and an impactful display of hundreds of silk flags.
The premiere performance of a new song ‘Tilbury is the Place for Me’ was a highlight of the occasion, performed by students from Gateway Learning Community and Tilbury Youth Services. The young people were given an opportunity to develop the track working with award-winning poet, novelist and musician Anthony Joseph, the saxophonist/ composer Ruben Fox and the impressive Kinetika Bloco. The song was inspired by the calypso of the Windrush generation ‘London is the place for me’ referencing local history, as well as ideas from the young people themselves. This imaginative project to bring history to life was supported by English Heritage’s youth engagement programme, Shout Out Loud, and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Kick the Dust strand.
Get involved!
The festival takes all year to organise and in preparation for its evolution into an independent non-profit in 2023, localised creative hubs are being established in Purfleet-on-Thames, Stanford-le-Hope, Ockendon, Langdon Hills, Tilbury, East Tilbury and Grays. Individuals or organisations can take part and are given the opportunity to input into the walks and creative activity at future events.
There is a T100 reflection session for the existing volunteer team, which is very friendly and open to anyone who wants to know more, on 6th Oct 2pm – 4.30pm at Kinetika’s Purfleet-based studio. Anyone interested in attending should contact Katie Beadle (hello@t100festival.co.uk).
Photos below are from the last walk day and finale at Tilbury Fort, by Mike Johnston.
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T100 DREAMING – DREAM FOR YOUR COMMUNITY
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In collaboration with local artists we are excited to bring you a new activity pack for T100 Dreaming, with fun activities designed to inspire both thought and action.
T100 is volunteer-led and activity hubs have been created in 7 local areas to explore ideas and action plans for the future. This pack invites you to get involved too!
You can complete the activities at home, with your family, friends or neighbours and then join us for workshops and walks.
All are welcome, and it’s a great opportunity to make new friends and do something positive for your community.
The pack is in 4 sections and we’re encouraging everyone to share their creative responses on the following dates:
- Part 1: 26th June – Exploring Values & Aspirations
- Part 2: 3rd July – Exploring Place
- Part 3: 10th July – Exploring People
- Part 4: 17th July – Bring it all together
Share your work online in the T100 Walking Arts Facebook Group or on Instagram or Twitter by tagging us @thurrock100 or using #T100Dreaming
If you don’t use social media you can also email your ideas directly to katie@kinetika.co.uk
Contact katie@kinetika.co.uk if you would like to find out about workshops near you.
All walks are free and led by experienced guides and Kinetika stewards.
Go to the walk pages below for maps and more details.
Thursday 10th June 5-7pm
Tilbury Town to
Tilbury Fort
A gentle walk around Tilbury Town and over to Tilbury Fort, celebrating the rich local heritage and looking towards the future.
At Tilbury Fort there will be a sneak peek of rehearsals for a new song for Tilbury, ‘Tilbury is the Place for Me’.
Friday 11th June 4-6pm
Thameside Theatre to
Grays Beach
Meet the chefs and sample the delicious variety of world food available on Grays high street.
We will finish the walk by enjoying a drink together on the banks of the Thames as we dream of our aspirations for the future of Grays.
Sat 12th June 1pm-3.30pm
Bata Memorial Park to
Coalhouse Fort
Explore the legacy of Thomas Bata’s Utopian vision from the 1930s, ending at Coalhouse Fort, for afternoon tea. What can we achieve here by walking together?
3.30pm-5pm
Coalhouse Fort sea wall walk to East Tilbury Town
Sat 12th June 7pm-8pm
T100 Calling: online event
Film screening of four short documentaries by Fotis Begklis about last year’s festival and the giant mandalas in Tilbury, Grays, Little Belhus and Purfleet
Sunday 13th June
10am -12.15pm
RSPB Rainham Circular Walk
Explore the award winning bird sanctuary at Rainham marshes, and reflect on your dreams for a more sustainable community.
12.30pm -4pm
RSPB Rainham to High House Production Park
Meet the Purfleet-on-Thames community through the sharing of stories, recipes and music. Together, we will capture our dream for a sustainable community by creating a recipe for Purfleet-on-Thames.
All walks are free and led by experienced guides and Kinetika stewards.
Go to the walk pages below for maps and more details.
Monday 26th July
2.30-5.30pm
Stanford-le-Hope to
Thameside Nature Park
A walk to Thameside Nature Discovery Park, a stunning visitor centre built on a former landfill site with superb views over Mucking Flats and the Thames Estuary.
Tuesday 27 July
11am – 2pm
Thameside Nature Park
to East Tilbury
A walk from Thameside Nature Discovery Park to East Tilbury to explore the legacy of Bata’s utopian vision from the 1930s, with artist input from Sadie Hasler.
Wednesday 28th July
10am – 2pm
Langdon Hills
Circular
A circular walk around Westley Heights and through the forestry of Langdon Hills country park, with artist-led workshop on the theme of dreaming.
Thursday 29th July
10am-2.30pm
Ockendon and
Little Belhus Country Park
A nature-filled walk circling Ockendon and Little Belhus Country Park, with dreaming workshops along the way with local artist Rebecca Brewer.
Friday 30th July
5pm – 7pm
Purfleet-on-Thames
Circular
A short circular walk visiting the Heritage and Military Centre for a welcome to Purfleet-on-Thames talk, and ending with a picnic at the Beacon.
Saturday 31st July
10am-1.30pm
Purfleet-on-Thames
to Grays
A walk beside the Thames almost the whole way alongside the famous mile long graffiti wall and a stop at St Clement’s Church.
Saturday 31st July
1.30pm-4pm
Grays to
Grays Beach
A guided walk around Grays to collect flags, a procession to Grays Beach, creative workshops and river-front fun!
Sun 1st August
11am-3.30pm
Tilbury to
Tilbury Fort
A gentle walk from Tilbury Town to Tilbury Fort, with talks, workshops and a big finale celebration with the unveiling of the new song ‘Tilbury is the Place for Me!’
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